thruway

Twenty-one vehicles, including a State Police patrol vehicle, were involved in an accident that shutdown the Thruway through Le Roy this afternoon.

Injuries were reported but no details have been released.

Several people involved in the accident were transported by van to the Ontario Service Center where they were evaluated by Mercy medics and interviewed by Troopers.

Le Roy Fire, Town of Batavia Fire, with assistance from Caledonia and Monroe County, responded to the scene.

Top three photos released by State Police. Bottom two photos courtesy a reader.  If you have photos to share of the accident, send them to howard@thebatavian.com

(Initial Post)

UPDATE: Reader submitted photo added below.

A multiple-vehicle accident is reported on the Thruway in Le Roy.

Le Roy Fire responding. Mutual aid requested from Town of Batavia.

A Le Roy chief asks a driver to bring a van in case shelter is needed for multiple people.

Two additional ambulances requested to the scene in case of multiple injuries.

UPDATE 2:17 p.m.: Caledonia requested to the scene.

UPDATE 2:22 p.m.: At least 15 vehicles involved, including tractor trailers. There are multiple injuries, including a truck driver with a head injury.

UPDATE 2:26 p.m.: At least six ambulances are required to the scene. Bergen requested to the scene.

UPDATE 2:29 p.m.: Eastbound traffic is being diverted off the Thruway at Batavia. Expect an influx of traffic into Batavia.

UPDATE 2:31 p.m.: A chief on scene wants to know ETA for an advanced life support ambulance. It is two or three minutes. The chief has given the ambulance driver instructions on how to get to the victims, who are at the front of the accident. "Don't worry. We'll make it happen," the driver tells the chief.

UPDATE  2:41 p.m.: Thruway being closed at Le Roy.

UPDATE 2:46 p.m.: A Caledonia crew requested to Le Roy fire hall to fill in.

UPDATE 3:03 p.m.: People involved in the accident who were not injured are being taken to the service center, where they can be kept warm and rest. Troopers will complete interviews with them there.

UPDATE 3:12 p.m.: Monroe County ambulances are being released from the scene.

UPDATE 3:25 p.m.: Multiple tractor-trailers can't up it up the hill on Route 20 east of Molasses Hill Road.

UPDATE 3:27 p.m.: The officer on scene wants to know if the hill can be salted. A snow plow is in route. "I've got trucks backed up as far as the eye can see down 20," the officer says.

UPDATE 3:50 p.m.: State Police, Troop T, are reporting 21 vehicles involved.

UPDATE 3:55 p.m.: A chief reports, "everyone is on the bus and the bus is on its way to the Ontario Service Center."

UPDATE 3:58 p.m.: All emergency units back in service. The Thruway is still being cleared of vehicles involved in the accident.

A four-vehicle accident, unknown injuries, is reported in the area of mile marker 397.8 in the eastbound lane of the Thruway.

East Pembroke fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 6:07 p.m.: A second ambulance requested to the scene, non-emergency.

UPDATE 6:12 p.m.: The East Pembroke chief is requesting Pembroke fire to shut down the Thruway, eastbound, at the Pembroke exit. "It would probably be better for them to get off in Pembroke and back on in Batavia," he said. He said traffic is already backed up to Route 77.

A vehicle fire is reported by the Thruway Authority in the area of mile marker 401.8 with a person still inside the vehicle.

Flames reportedly showing.

Pembroke Fire and Indian Fall Fire dispatched.

It's possible that the person doesn't even realize the vehicle is on fire. There is no indication the person is disabled or that the fire is the result of an accident.

UPDATE 12:09 p.m.: Pembroke and Indian Falls back in service. Unfounded.

A tractor-trailer rollover accident, believed to be with no injuries, is reported in the area of mile marker 383 in the westbound lane of the Thruway.

Le Roy Fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 2:17 p.m.: A Le Roy chief has canceled the Le Roy assignment. "The trooper doesn't want us out here."  He also wanted dispatch to document the trooper refusing fire department assistance.

There is a rollover accident reported on the Thruway near mile marker 404, which is at the Erie County line.

A caller reported seeing the car airborne with multiple rollovers and it went into the woods.

Pembroke and Indian Falls fire dispatched. East Pembroke fire requested mutual aid.

Mercy EMS dispatched.

Mercy Flight #5 out of Batavia on standby.

UPDATE 9:32 a.m.: There was only one caller reporting the rollover in Genesee County. Erie County has contacted Genesee County dispatch and requested assistance with a rollover at mile marker 406.  There was no rollover located so far at 404. The Pembroke and Indian Falls assignments are continuing to 406 while also checking the area of 404. In addition, Erie County is requesting mutual aid to mile marker 408 for a woman in labor. Mercy Flight was being put on in-air standby but was just canceled. Pembroke's chief is heading to 408.

UPDATE 9:38 p.m.: On the woman in labor, somebody drove the woman directly to the hospital and the car she was in was abandoned at that location. Pembroke's assignment to 408 is back in service. Assignments to 406 back in service. There was one patient, minor injuries.

At least one person was injured following a single-car rollover accident on the westbound Thruway onramp in Batavia.

Mercy Flight transported a patient to ECMC following the accident at about 1 p.m.

A state trooper on scene would not provide further information.

Bottom two photos submitted by Jason Smith.

A car has reportedly hit a tree off the Thruway in the area of mile marker 393.7 in the westbound lane.

Unknown injuries.

Town of Batavia fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

A former resident of Puerto Rico, Kentucky, and Indiana, with a pending serious felony charge in Indiana, who was just passing through Genesee County when he was caught with a stolen, loaded handgun, got little sympathy from Judge Charles Zambito yesterday.

The attorney for Alberto Santos, Michael Locicero, suggested his client might be a good candidate for a probationary sentence, but Zambito was skeptical that Santos would fulfill the terms of such an agreement.

He noted that on every one of the prior criminal cases for Santos in Kentucky and Indiana, a warrant had to be issued for Santos at some point when he failed to turn up in court at appointed times.

Santos pled guilty May 7 to charges of attempted criminal possession of a weapon, 2nd, and criminal possession of stolen property, 4th, and yesterday Zambito sent Santos to state prison for two years followed by three years probation.

A trooper arrested Santos after stopping him Feb. 4 for speeding on the I-90. He found a Sig Sauer Model SP2022 in the vehicle.

"I don't believe you didn't know the gun was stolen," Zambito said. "The fact you were driving 91 miles per hour with a loaded handgun on the Thruway says something about your character and your danger to the community."

A two-vehicle accident in the area of mile marker 390.7 of the Thruway in the westbound lane has traffic completely blocked.

No injuries are reported.

Town of Batavia fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

A three-vehicle accident with unknown injuries reported on the Thruway in the area of mile marker 391 in the westbound lane.

The vehicles are in the median according to a chief on scene.

Town of Batavia fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 6:07 p.m.: One vehicle is in the median. One is on the north side of the Thruway. No injuries. Rescue 20 can respond, all other responding units from Town of Batavia can go back in service. An ambulance was told no response necessary but now it's requested to the scene.

UPDATE 6:09 p.m.: The ambulance is needed to provide shelter for a mom and a 3-month-old baby until transportation can be figured out for mom and baby.

A vehicle has reportedly hit a bridge abutment off the Thruway in the area of mile marker 390.

Unknown injuries.

Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

There is an oil spill on the Thruway in the eastbound lane in the area of mile marker 404 because of a truck accident.

It's unclear if a truck was carrying oil or if the oil comes from the engine. 

Two trucks may have been involved and there is heavy damage. There's no word yet on how large of an oil spill.

Pembroke fire and Indian Falls fire dispatched.

UPDATE 5 p.m.: There is oil leaking from "the last two tractor-trailers involved," a chief reports.

UPDATE 5:03 p.m.: The spill is 50 to 60 feet from a waterway. Department of Environmental Conservation being notified.

UPDATE 6:02 p.m.: Reader-submitted photos added. Apparently, only one truck involved. It was carrying 44,000 pounds of flour for a pizza shop.

A car has reportedly gone of the roadway and into the woods in the area of mile marker 393.0 in the eastbound lane of the Thruway. 

Unknown injuries. 

The location is in the area of Kelsey Road. 

Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched. 

UPDATE 9:07 a.m.: No injuries. No damage to vehicle. Town assignment back in service. 

A rollover accident is reported in the Thruway in the area of mile marker 401.6 in the eastbound lane.

Dispatchers have received several calls on it.

One person is reported to be still in the vehicle.

Pembroke fire, Indian Falls fire, and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 8:39 a.m.: A vehicle is on its roof on the bridge of the off and on ramp, according to a chief on scene. Traffic is backing up.

UPDATE 8:42 a.m.: The chief believes the driver is out of the vehicle. There is a snowplow pushing it onto the median.

UPDATE 8:46 a.m.: There were two people in the vehicle. They are in a State Police car. One has a complaint of shoulder pain. The other is apparently uninjured.

UPDATE 9:10 a.m.: Pembroke and Indian Falls back in service.

A traffic accident in Depew has closed the New York State Thruway in both directions and that is having an impact on traffic in Genesee County.

Besides the westbound closure from Pembroke toward Depew, Route 77 is also clogged with traffic. It sounds like there is congestion into Corfu.

The traffic camera above shows the eastbound lane blocked in Depew; however, the Pembroke exit 48 camera (below) just started showing eastbound traffic flowing through the area again while westbound traffic is still being diverted off the Thruway in Pembroke.

A car has reportedly hit a tree near mile marker 393.7, off the eastbound lane of the Thruway.

There was airbag deployment.

Town of Batavia fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 11:30 p.m.: Occupants are out of the vehicle. Ambulance can respond non-emergency for patient evaluation.

UPDATE 11:40 p.m.: Assignment back in service.

A car is off the road and a caller reports the driver appears to be injured in the area of mile marker 386.6 on the Thruway in the Town of Batavia.

Town of Batavia fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

An ambulance has been dispatched to the toll booths on the New York State Thruway in Pembroke for an employee who has reportedly suffered an electrical shock.

No word on the extent of injuries, if any.

Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments also responding.

UPDATE 3:11 p.m.: The patient suffered minor burns on her fingers and was transported to ECMC. She was plugging something in to an electric outlet when she was shocked. 

A tractor-trailer overturned on the Thruway at about 10 a.m. and though there were no injuries, the accident created traffic delays through Le Roy.

Due to a fuel spill, both westbound lanes were blocked for a time.

State Police said the cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Photo: Katie Marie Breitfeld story and photo via our news partner, 13WHAM.