Ice turns Utah roads into demolition derby

An instantaneous weather event Saturday caused a chain-reaction crash on a three-mile stretch of I-80 in Tooele County involving three semitrailer trucks and 30 other vehicles, the Utah Highway Patrol said.

"A storm cell blew over and instead of snow, it just went right to ice," said spokesman Jesse Valenzuela. "People weren't even prepared. They hit ice immediately."

People in 16 of the vehicles involved in the crash on I-80 eastbound near Saltair required medical attention. Ambulances had to be called in from Salt Lake City because of the number of people injured, Valenzuela said.

Shortly after the pileup, the Tooele County Sheriff's Office sent out an advisory warning people to refrain from driving toward Salt Lake City until the storm moved out.

The I-80 incident was the biggest during a nasty day on Utah's roads, a day that involved multiple crashes, injuries and traffic jams.

In Box Elder and Cache counties, Valenzuela said, troopers responded to 15 crashes between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. During the same period, Davis County saw 64 crashes, nearly all of them weather-related.

Salt Lake and Utah counties had the largest share of the day's activity, Valenzuela said, with troopers responding to 98 crashes with vehicle damage and 31 injury crashes.

"That is only on I-15, I-215, S.R. 21 and I-80," he said. "It was crazy."

The Salt Lake City Fire Department was not spared from the spate of crashes, either. One of its fire trucks was hit at 11:30 a.m. at 1100 South and I-215 northbound.

Firefighters had parked a truck to block traffic while they were treating patients from a rollover. Meanwhile, on the other side of the truck, a car spun out of control and hit the engine.

"From what they told me, had they not done that, the car would have slid right into the car they were working on," said Salt Lake fire spokesman Mark Bednarik.

Drivers on surface streets in Salt Lake City weren't immune to the mayhem.

"These roads are atrocious," said Salt Lake City Police Lt. Scott White, whose agency responded to more than 100 crashes by 7 p.m.

"There's so many we can't respond to them anymore unless there's injuries," he said. "The roads are just pure ice in spots. I'm driving 15 mph and I'm sliding."

White blamed many of the crashes on motorists failing to slow down and exercise caution.

"They're still driving horrible," he said.

Snow is forecast for much of Utah for the next three days.

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