911 caller after tree falls on US 68: 4 cars ‘have scraped their bottoms’

A 911 caller told dispatchers after a tree fell onto U.S. 68 South amid a storm in Clark County on Thursday night: “Man, someone else just about wiped out!”

The downed tree led to multiple crashes and a temporary shutdown of U.S. 68.

The first crash was reported at 6:02 p.m. at the Dayton-Springfield Road overpass, south of U.S. 40, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Springfield Post.

At least five vehicles were involved in crashes, including some that hit the tree and other vehicles that struck cars that hit the tree, the patrol post said.

One caller told the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, which responded to help the highway patrol, that his vehicle was hit by another when he was slowing down in front of a fallen tree, according to call records.

“There’s a tree, branch, limb, something that fell down in the middle of the interstate …,” the caller said. “Man, someone else just about wiped out! There’s been about four cars that have scraped their bottoms.”

Troopers handled five of the vehicles that crashed, and the Clark County Sheriff’s Office also handled some, the patrol said.

The southbound lanes reopened around 8:30 p.m., and no injuries were reported.

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