5/1/23 - I-55 100 vehicle pile-up (Montgomery County)

[Mex]

Around 1030 Hrs this morning (5/1) Troop 8 along with Farmersville Fire was dispatched to a vehicle crash on I-55, FFD advised up to 100 vehicles involved, 1 confirmed fatality so far, but there are multiple injuries. 4 Helicopters have landed at the north end of the wreck

IEMA is setting up a command post set up at Divernon Village Hall
Reunification point set at Divernon Village Hall

ISP Command Channel is set to 8-A2 (18-A)
Units on 8-A2 not on scene, advised to go to 9-B (Unk if thats current or old 9-B

Agencies I've heard on scene so far:
Illinois State Police - Troops 6, 7, 8, 9 - Division of Operations - Traffic Crash Reconstruction Unit
Montgomery County Sheriff's Office
Macoupin County Sheriff's Office
Sangamon County Sheriff's Office
AirMethods - HSHS Rescue Flight (Highland & Springfield) (x2), KidsFlight 1 (Granite City), ARCH 2 (Litchfield)
Illinois EMA
Montgomery County EMA
Macoupin County EMA
Sangamon County OEM
Fire channel keeps getting walked over by ISP on, making it hard to keep track
IDOT Litchfield Yard

 

[Mex]

1239 Hrs - EMS Command requested 6 more helos for a total of 10, later disregarded most of them
1245 Hrs - ISP IC advising total of 4 fatalities so far


Helicopters -
Survival Flight (Hannibal MO)

Air Evac Lifeteam -
- AirEvac Lifeteam 11 (Mt Vernon)
- AirEvac Lifeteam 137 (Greenville)
- AirEvac Lifeteam 156 (Maryville)
AirMethods -
- HSHS Rescue Flight (Highland & Springfield) (x2)
- KidsFlight 1 (Granite City)
- ARCH 2 (Litchfield)
- ARCH 3 (Effingham)
- ARCH 4 (Sparta)
- AirLife 2 (Olney)

 

[Fixitt]

Prior to that, I heard an officer saying a farmer was working in a nearby field at that location and a dirt cloud was blowing over the highway.
Next I heard a report of an accident involving a semi hitting a car. The semi stopped about 1/2 mile from the accident site.
From there it mushroomed quickly. Calling in EMS from Sangamon county, because no more ambulances were available.

 

[wx9svr]

Newly plowed fields in an area that's open & flat, a couple days of low dewpoints (dry air) & winds from the NNW & NW gusting up to 40-45 mph down that N-S stretch of I-55.

Last I heard as of Monday night, 30+ injured ranging in age from 2yo to 80yo, and at least 6 fatalities.

 

[scanman1958]

And today the National Weather Service has issued a dust storm warning for the same area of Hwy 55. It is scheduled to last till 16:30 local time. But forecasters are suggesting that caution should be used into the evening.