More than 130 Cars Involved in Deadly Fort Worth Pileup; Police Say Icy Conditions Likely Played a Role

 Ron Brackett

Published: February 11, 2021

More than 130 cars and trucks piled up in a deadly crash scene that stretched over half mile of an icy Texas interstate Thursday morning.

“The scene we saw today is really one unlike probably any of us have ever seen and we pray to god we never see again,” Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes said in a press conference late Thursday afternoon.

He added: “It appears at this point in the investigation, which is still very preliminary, that ice was a factor."

Temperatures were in the 20s about the time 911 calls started pouring in to dispatchers just after 6 a.m. Light freezing rain was reported in the area. Conditions were so slippery that several first responders fell while tending to crash victims, many of whom had to be extricated from their mangled vehicles.

Six people were killed, Officer Daniel Segura of the Fort Worth Police Department told weather.com.

Three dozen were transported to local hospitals, MedStar spokesman Matt Zavadsky said at the briefing. Three were reported to be in critical condition at the scene. Dozens of others sought medical care on their own later in the day, bringing the total number of injured to at least 65.

(MORE: Snow and Ice to Hammer the Pacific Northwest Through Sunday, Including Portland, Oregon)

A MedStar ambulance was also involved in the crash. Three Fort Worth police officers who were caught up in the crash on their way to work were injured, and another was hurt while responding to the scene, WFAA-TV reported.

One driver who narrowly avoided the crash told the Star-Telegram that “it was literally like stepping on an ice rink," when he exited his car on the highway.

Officials went vehicle by vehicle to make sure everyone had been rescued. Buses were on the scene to help motorists warm up once they were freed from their cars, Zavadsky said, adding that medics were worried about hypothermia.

At least 75 vehicles were involved in a pileup on Interstate 35 on Thursday, February 11, 2021, in Fort Worth, Texas. Police said at least three people were killed in the pileup.

The Fort Worth pileup wasn't the only fatal crash Thursday. From Texas to Tennessee and into the mid-Atlantic, motorists found hazardous road conditions, and tens of thousands of homes and businesses lost power Thursday morning because of Winter Storm Shirley.

Officials warned people to stay off the roads, and multiple crashes were reported overnight into Thursday morning.

A pileup involving 26 vehicles was reported on State Highway 45 in Austin, Texas, at 8:20 a.m. Thursday.

(MORE: Winter Storm Spreading Ice, Snow From Mid-South to Mid-Atlantic)

In Dallas, police said one person died in a multi-vehicle pileup about 11:15 p.m. on Interstate 45, according to KXAS. Less than two hours later, police said, two people were killed and a third was hospitalized in critical condition in another crash on Interstate 45, KXAS reported.

Police in Arlington, Texas, said they had responded to 82 crashes from 10 p.m. Wednesday to 7 a.m. Thursday.

A jack-knifed semitrailer truck blocked some lanes on Interstate 30 near Little Rock, Arkansas, about 5:30 a.m. CST, KTHV reported.

Bridges were frozen over across Memphis, Tennessee, according to WMC-TV, and parts of I-40 and I-69 were covered with ice in Tennessee and Mississippi.

Several vehicles were involved in a crash on I-240 at I-40 in Memphis, WREG reported.

WDRB reported that freezing rain and snow left streets in Kentucky and Indiana covered with snow and ice early Thursday.

Multiple collisions occurred on I-65 between mile marker 58 and 71 in Hart County, Kentucky, and the traffic was at a standstill at mile marker 67, Kentucky State Patrol Trooper Daniel Priddy said.

More than 20 crashes were reported in Louisville, Kentucky, between 11 p.m. Wednesday and 9 a.m. Thursday, according to WHAS, including a multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 71 at Barbour Lane.

A multi-vehicle crash involving a semitractor trailer closed I-24 in Kentucky's Christian County about 8 a.m. Thursday, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced he had declared a state of emergency to "free up funding and boost coordination across agencies as we respond to this weather crisis in a way that can keep all Kentuckians safe."

More than 158,000 customers had no electricity as of noon, according to poweroutage.us. That included more than 67,000 homes and businesses in Kentucky, over 46,000 in West Virginia and 10,000-plus in Tennessee.

Accumulating ice caused limbs and entire trees to topple onto power lines.

Hundreds of school districts canceled classes because of the storm.

(WATCH: Plane Slides off Snowy Taxiway at Pittsburgh International)

Crews at Pittsburgh International Airport worked Thursday morning to remove a Delta Air Lines flight that slid off a taxiway about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, WPXI reported. The area was receiving heavy snow at the time, WPXI reported. No injuries were reported among the 77 people on board.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.