15 Injured In Car Pile Up On I-15 In Cajon PassSAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP)
Jun 10, 2009 9:57 am US/Pacific
Authorities said as many as 20 to 30 vehicles were involved in a chain-reaction accident early Wednesday in fog on a mountain highway, injuring at least 15 people and scattering wreckage for a half-mile.
The chain-reaction collision began when two tractor-trailer rigs crashed in northbound lanes, officers said.
Hazmat was also called to the scene due to a 150-gallon diesel fuel spill over four lanes.
Severals roads, including the northbound 15 just south of Oak Hill and the northbound 215 at the northbound 15, were closed. The northbound 15 at the 215 and the northbound 15 at the 138 were also closed.
San Bernardino County fire dispatch supervisor Tom Barnes said 10 patients were being taken to hospitals. Paramedics assessed five others who declined medical treatment.
Cajon Pass rises to an elevation of more than 4,100 feet in the San Bernardino Mountains about 45 miles east of Los Angeles. It carries Interstate 15 traffic between Southern California cities, Mojave Desert cities and Las Vegas.
Northbound traffic stalled at the bottom of the southern side of the pass.
Southern California has been enduring a siege of "June gloom" weather, a deep marine layer that pushes inland from the ocean, bringing low clouds, fog and drizzle.
