Oct. 19--FAIRFIELD -- Three people -- including a three-and-a-half-week-old baby -- were hospitalized Saturday morning when their car rolled over in a nine-car pile-up that paralyzed the southbound section of Interstate 95.
All southbound lanes were closed for hours. Northbound traffic crawled as motorists gawked at the wreckage, motorists drove the wrong way down entrance ramps to escape the traffic jam and local roads like the Boston Post Road were gridlocked.
Firefighters had to extricate the injured, who were taken to Bridgeport Hospital.
Assistant Fairfield Fire Chief Schuyler Sherwood said that the crashes occurred at about 11a.m., between Exits 22 and 21. He said the infant was secured in a car seat and that the vehicle rolled over completely, landing back on its tires.
All southbound lanes of the highway were closed to traffic and firefighters along with American Medical Response EMTs treated "numerous" people, many of whom declined to be taken to the hospital. Multiple hydraulic rescue tools were used by the firefighters to cut through the damaged car.
"The scene required 18 firefighters to rapidly extricate and treat all injured patients, secure any of the hazards and fluid spills associated with the accident," Sherwood said. Three ambulances and an AMR supervisor responded to the scene and transported the victims to the hospital.
Traffic in the southbound section didn't resume until after 2:30 p.m.
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