CT officials: I-95 shut down for extended period following fiery crash; bridge has to ‘come down’

A fiery crash on Thursday involving a tractor-trailer and a tanker carrying 8,500 gallons of fuel led to a massive fire that will leave both sides of Interstate 95 in Norwalk shut down for several days as crews assess and repair the damage the blaze caused to utilities and a bridge in the area.

Gov. New Lamont said late Thursday that the “bridge is going to have to come down.”

He said the work to remove the bridge was expected to begin around 3 a.m. Friday and that if all goes well, two-way traffic could be back on the interstate sometime Monday. Lamont said he sought an “emergency declaration” as a result of the damage, which would provide assistance in paying for the repairs.

The governor noted that congestion is “still heavy” and he recommended that those who must travel in the next few days “take the train, stay away from the cars.”

State police warned commercial drivers to stay off the state’s parkways and said troopers would be out to prevent such traffic.

Norwalk Mayor Harry W. Rilling said, “We are very grateful that nobody was seriously injured,” and praised state and local workers for all they did and are doing to assist in the clean-up and work that needs to be done.

A state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection spokesperson said about 4,000 gallons of fuel spilled and burned, and the remainder was removed from the truck.

The crash was reported around 5:30 a.m. when state troopers learned of a collision involving two commercial vehicles and a passenger vehicle that led to a massive, three-alarm fire on I-95 South near Exit 15 at the Fairfield Avenue overpass, according to Connecticut State Police.

No serious injuries were reported.

Local fire crews responded to put out the vehicle fires, which included a tractor-trailer engulfed in flames. Crews from the state Department of Transportation, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Eversource also responded to the scene.

According to DEEP, the tanker truck had about 8,500 gallons of fuel in it.

Fire crews used foam that did not contain PFAS to get control of the blaze.

Authorities in the afternoon hours said crews could not move the tanker until the remaining fuel was removed from the vehicle.

According to DEEP, the fire consumed much of the fuel that leaked from the tanker, which limited the runoff, none of which made it to the Norwalk River. Crews were able to contain the limited amount of runoff into a retention pond.

The crash led to both sides of I-95 being shut down. Lamont said at an earlier press briefing Thursday that state officials notified surrounding states and truck companies of the closure and advised them to seek alternate routes using I-84 or I-87.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy spoke about the crash at a Senate appropriations subcommittee meeting Thursday, saying I-95 could be closed down “for days depending on how fast we’re able to make that bridge structurally sound and understand the extent of the fuel leakage.”

The governor had said crews in the morning hours were still assessing damages to utilities and the bridge that serves as an overpass and were working to get a better idea of when I-95 could re-open.

“I know what an incredible inconvenience this is for people,” Lamont said, adding that he spoke to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg in the morning and briefed him on the situation. “And all I can ask you to do is stay away from that area the best you can. The traffic jams are horrendous.”

“Our highways team is working closely with Connecticut’s DOT on the tanker fire that has closed I-95 in Norwalk,” Buttigieg said via his X account. “Please heed local authorities on detours and avoid the area if possible. Thank you to the first responders who are dealing with the fire and keeping other drivers safe.”

Anyone who is able to stay home and avoid the area altogether has been advised to do so for the next few days, Lamont said.

“We are working with the city of Norwalk to reroute traffic around the city streets,” Paul Rizzo, bureau chief of highway operations for the DOT, said at a news briefing. “We have detours set up on I-95 to get the traffic around the incident.”

According to Scott Hill, bureau chief of Engineering and Construction at the DOT, the bridge in the area of the crash sustained damages, but “I just want to stress that the bridge is stable.

Hill said, “We need to finish the police investigation to look at the bridge.”

“There is damage to the bridge, so I want to make sure everybody knows that,” Hill added. “But it’s not a collapse issue and the area is safe.”

Hill said an engineer would assess the bridge, as the gasoline involved in the crash could have caused intense heat and possibly deformed the steel.