'Y'all Didn't Believe Me,' Texas Man Josh Moloney Laces Up, Tests Icy Conditions By Skating On Street
JOSEPHINE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - One North Texan just "couldn't take it anymore," and took to the streets to test just how icy Thursday's weather conditions really were.
Josh Moloney laced up, then tweeted: "I can't take it anymore. I'm about to go see if my ice skates will work in the street."
Not long after, he followed up with a video tweet of him skating on his street, "Y'all didn't believe me, did y'all?"
Moloney's morning of fun came as icy road conditions across North Texas caused massive traffic jams and sometime fatal wrecks.
At least five people were killed in a 'mass casualty incident' involving 75 to 100 vehicles on Interstate-35W in Fort Worth.
"Information will change going throughout the day as we get more information," Fort Worth Fire Department public information officer Mike Drivdahl said during a morning press conference. "We are going vehicle, by vehicle, to make sure that anybody that is still trapped in their vehicle has been extricated, if possible. There's a lot of vehicles to go through."
The pileup happened around 6:30 a.m. after freezing rain and sleet fell overnight and into the morning, leaving roadways across wet and slick.
Pictures and video from CBS 11 News crews at the scene show dozens of vehicles and dozens of 18-wheelers — some hauling cars and trucks — smashed, toppled over, and stacked on top of each other.
Multiple ambulances were dispatched to the scene. Officials with MedStar Mobile Healthcare confirm 14 ambulances were used to transport some 36 people to area hospitals. The seriously injured were transported to trauma centers.
Police said it will take hours and hours to clear the scene. "It's gonna be a long time. We're gonna have to separate a lot of these vehicles with wreckers."
East of Fort Worth, in Arlington, police officers responded to more than 82 crashes since 10 p.m. on Feb. 10 due to weather.
The vast majority of the wrecks were on bridges and overpasses along I.H. 20, U.S. 287, S.H. 360 and I.H. 30.
A patrol car was struck by another car that lost control in the 6500 block of West I.H. 20 after midnight. The officer was outside investigating a separate crash so he was not injured.
Farther south, in Austin, more than two dozen vehicles were involved in a pileup on an icy road, and one person was injured, emergency officials said.
Josephine is about 35 miles northeast of Dallas.
