GREEN RIVER — The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report detailing what happened in the fatal Valentine’s Day crash and fire that occurred in the westbound Interstate 80 tunnel near Green River.
The NTSB’s investigation is ongoing to discover a probable cause and involves the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Wyoming Highway Patrol and the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
According to the NTSB, a 2006 Toyota Tundra truck was traveling west on the left lane inside the tunnel when the speed limit had been reduced to 55 mph from 65 mph due to the weather from the night prior. Snow had fallen and although the weather was clear at that time, the road was wet with possible ice and slush forming near the tunnel exit.
The Toyota exited the tunnel and spun to the left, striking a metal guardrail. It continued traveling west and stopped about 150 feet from the westbound tunnel exit, blocking the right lane and a portion of the left lane. After this crash, the driver of a 2024 Peterbilt tractor-trailer combination with a 53-foot long trailer that was also traveling in the left lane attempted to avoid the stopped Toyota and struck the left side of the tunnel. After hitting the tunnel, the Peterbilt driver regained control of his vehicle and avoided contact with the Toyota, stopping on the right shoulder about 450 feet west of the tunnel exit.
A 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee was traveling in the left lane of the tunnel when the driver saw the stopped Toyota and began breaking – causing the Jeep to spin and leading it to impact the metal guardrail and curb near the exit. The Jeep continued to travel in a northwest trajectory across both lanes and came to a rest against the hill beyond the right shoulder.
A few moments later, a 2020 Volvo VNL tractor-trailer combination with a 2020 Wabash 53-foot long trailer was traveling west through the tunnel in the right lane. The Volvo driver breaked in response to the stopped Toyota, which resulted in the combination jackknifing inside the tunnel. It blocked both lanes about 200 feet from the tunnel exit.
A 2012 Dodge Ram pickup truck was traveling in the left lane and was occupied by four people. The Dodge collided with the Volvo. At the same time, a 2019 Freightliner Cascadia tractor-trailer combination with a 2023 Wabash 53-foot long trailer was traveling in the right lane and steered into the left lane, where it collided with the tunnel wall. The Cascadia combination then collided with and overrode the Dodge. The entangled vehicles collided with the Volvo, exited the tunnel, struck the Toyota, then stopped after it struck the rear of the Peterbilt. Several other vehicles collided in the tunnel following this collision and the postcrash fire inside the tunnel began.
Two occupants of the Dodge, Christopher Johnson, 20, and Quentin Romero, 22, both of Rawlins were fatally injured. The third crash victim, tractor-trailer combination driver Harmanjeet Singh, 30, of Nova Scotia, Canada, died in the post crash fire. The NTSB reports 20 other people suffered varying injuries from the event.
