A tractor-trailer fire and two unrelated vehicle collisions resulted in closures of Highway 401 in Brighton on Friday (October 4).
Just before midnight on Friday, Northumberland Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Brighton fire department responded after a tractor-trailer’s load caught on fire in the westbound lanes of Highway 401.
Fire crews worked for several hours to extinguish the fire. The highway was closed until 3 a.m., when one lane was opened. There were no injuries reported.
Then, at around 8:15 a.m., Northumberland OPP along with the Brighton fire department and emergency medical services responded to two unrelated collisions on the highway.
A collision in the westbound lanes involved a passenger vehicle and three tractor-trailers, with one of the tractor-trailers rolling over and coming to rest in the central grass median. While all three truck drivers were uninjured, the driver of the passenger vehicle was transported to hospital with minor injuries.
The westbound lanes of Highway 401 were closed at County Road 30, with an emergency diversion route in place, until around 11 a.m.
Meanwhile, a tractor-trailer and a passenger vehicle that was towing a boat collided in the eastbound lanes. The passenger vehicle and boat ended up in a ditch beside the highway, with the tractor-trailer stopped on the hard shoulder.
The truck driver was uninjured and four occupants of the passenger vehicle went to hospital as a precaution. One eastbound lane was closed until the vehicles were towed.
Police are reminding drivers not to take videos of photos while driving past collisions. Not only can doing so significantly increase the risk of causing another collision, but it is an offence under the Highway Traffic Act leading to a fine of $615.00 and demerit points.
