OZAUKEE COUNTY -- All lanes of I-43 northbound were closed for a short time on Wednesday afternoon, December 23rd after a semi jackknifed -- leading to three subsequent crashes.
It happened shortly before 1:00 p.m.
Ozaukee County Sheriff's officials say the semi-tractor trailer was hauling an intermodal trailer, and it attempted to slow down in an effort to avoid a collision with a vehicle that was merging into traffic on I-43 SB, approximately one mile south of State Highway 33 in the Town of Saukville.
The semi jackknifed and slid into the median.
There was no contact between the semi and the vehicle that was merging onto the freeway -- but a saddle tank on the semi was ruptured as it traveled into the median.
Approximately 50 to 70 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from the tank into the median.
The Ozaukee County Emergency Management Hazmat Team responded to manage and clean the diesel spill.
During the course of this traffic investigation, three additional traffic accidents involving a total of eight vehicles occurred on I-43 northbound between Highway 33 in the Town of Saukville and Highway 32 in the Town of Grafton.
One person was taken to the hospital -- and that person is expected to be OK.
Northbound lanes of I-43 were closed for about 30 minutes. Traffic was diverted to Highway 32.
At approximately 3:51 p.m. I-43 northbound lanes were opened and the vehicles were cleared from the accident scenes.
Weather conditions of fog and rain, along with the increased volume of traffic due to the holidays contributed to the series of accidents, officials say.
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