Interstate 71 was shut down in both directions in Delaware County on Saturday evening after an eight-vehicle crash involving multiple fires near State Route 36 and U.S. Route 37. The Ohio State Highway Patrol said the 6:27 p.m. wreck was a serious injury crash.
Three people were taken to area hospitals after the collision, and none was transported to Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Traffic backed up for several miles as the closure stretched along Interstate 71 between I-270 and State Route 36/U.S. Route 37, and authorities had not given an estimated time for reopening.
The crash left one of the region’s busiest north-south corridors blocked while investigators tried to sort out what happened. The cause remained under investigation, and officials had not said what sparked the chain-reaction wreck or the fires that followed.
For drivers, the immediate answer was simple: Interstate 71 remained closed in both directions until investigators and emergency crews could clear the scene and determine whether the road was safe to reopen.