OSSEO, Wis. — Travelers using I-94 through west central Wisconsin Christmas Eve should find smooth sailing, one day after icy conditions triggered dozens of crashes and closed the busy interstate in both directions for more than 12 hours.
The Wisconsin State Patrol posted on Twitter at 4:30 a.m. Friday that all lanes of I-94 between Osseo and Black River Falls are finally open, and all damaged vehicles are cleared from the scene.
Authorities say between 40 and 50 vehicles and semis were damaged in a series of pileups that began around 5:45 a.m. Thursday in both the east and westbound lanes of I-94 near Northfield in Jackson County. A number of those involved were semi trucks, as I-94 is a major transportation corridor.
Fortunately, there were no fatalities despite all the twisted metal, and all injuries suffered were said to be non-life threatening.
One of the incidents involved a semi that left the road and struck a guardrail, bursting into blames with two passenger vehicles caught underneath. Other images from the scene showed multiple trucks jackknifed or rolled on their sides.
State troopers blamed the crashes on icy conditions caused by freezing rain.
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