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Kimberly Houk reportingA sixteen car pile-up shuts down I-15 in both directions in Davis County for nearly six hours.
"We were just driving and hit a wall of fog. Ahead of us there was a wreck, and before I knew it, we were being hit on all sides," one witness said.
The freeway looks better now, but that wasn't the case this morning. Those who live in Davis County saw their freeway turn into a parking lot. Hours ticked by as they sat and waited.
Mangled cars, busted semis, trails of broken glass and a crushed freeway barrier. Within minutes a two car accident multiplied into 16 vehicles, all smashing into each other.
Jim Rampton/ South Davis Fire Dept.: "The ground is very slippery due to the moisture we've had, and the fog has just made it very slippery."
Melanie Lawrence, Wrecked car: "All of a sudden there was a wall of fog. You couldn't see anything."
Until she says she slammed into the car in front of her.
Melanie Lawrence/ Caught in Accident: "We got hit from the front and from the back, and luckily we were all wearing our seatbelts, and we were all okay."
But many weren't. The jaws of life were brought out to cut out those trapped inside their cars. Of 23 people caught in the accident, half of them went to the hospital.
Jim Rampton/ South Davis Fire Dept.: "This taxed all of our resources. We have every available ambulance in the area, with extracation, trying to get all the people out of these vehicles. As you can tell these vehicles are very mangled. It's taken some time to get these people out."
Moving fast, officers covered both sides of the freeway. Impacts were so forceful, cars were strewn everywhere.
Some flipping upside down, others looking like accordions. Diesel fuel spilled all over the road. It was a sight that left these people knowing they'd be sitting in their cars for awhile.
It took crews nearly six hours to get the accident cleaned up. And we're even told from a viewer who lives in Davis County it took him three hours just to get back from the airport. That's a drive that usually take 15 minutes.
But now, traffic on I-15 is moving smoothly.
