After fire in Squirrel Hill Tunnel prompts evacuation, PennDOT explains emergency response
Days after a car crash and fire in the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, KDKA got an exclusive look inside and talked to PennDOT about what it takes to respond to this kind of incident in hopes of reassuring people next time they're driving through one of the area's tunnels.
The three-vehicle crash happened during rush hour on Friday evening, sending black smoke billowing out of the structure. Only two were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
Immediately after the crash, Lori Musto, PennDOT District 11's assistant district executive for maintenance, said workers turned on the fans on top of the tunnel to get the smoke out so first responders could go inside and people stranded in cars could evacuate.
"The fans is what was really causing that smoke to billow out," Musto said.
However, before that, they stopped traffic, closing both sides of the tunnel. She said this was key.
"We had people that we backed out right away, and we had others that left their vehicles," Musto said. "We did take them back in to get their vehicles, and then we backed them out."
They estimate about 15 to 20 cars initially got stuck inside, though they didn't all stay in there for the three hours the tunnel was closed. During that time, Musto said their inspectors came out to assess the damage.
She showed KDKA the damage inside the outbound tunnel on Monday.
"You could see there's some tile damage, the tile came off the walls. There is no structural damage," Musto said.
Tiles are missing from the wall, and some of the road is ripped up and melted, like an exit sign that has since been replaced.
"We did make some electrical repairs. The electricians actually cleaned some of the lights that were covered in smoke," Musto said.
She wants people to know the doors inside the tunnels are always open. They lead straight from one side to the other. They're just very heavy.
The tunnels are staffed 24/7, listening to 911, monitoring the temperatures and carbon dioxide levels, and watching all that's happening inside. One camera needs to be fixed after it was damaged in the incident.
"It could have been a very disastrous situation, and I feel the coordination between our crews and EMS, not only did it save lives, but it prevented significant damage from the tunnels," Musto said.
PennDOT said it will also review the incident with the fire department as it does after any major event. It will be sometime in the next two weeks.
