CHEYENNE, Wyo.—Three pileups involving about 50 vehicles injured 15 people Thursday on Interstate 25 in northern Colorado.
All 15 were treated at a Cheyenne hospital and released later in the day.
The crashes happened in snowy weather Thursday morning just south of the Wyoming state line, about 12 miles south of Cheyenne. All three pileups occurred around the same time in the southbound lanes.
Many vehicles slid off the highway to avoid the wrecks, according to Aaron Fowler, chief of Laramie County Fire District 1.
“Visibility when I arrived on the scene was, I would say, 100 yards—very high winds and blizzard conditions,” Fowler said.
The wrecks occurred within a mile of the state line. The highway was soon closed south of Cheyenne and remained closed throughout the day.
Cheyenne Regional Medical Center officials said 12 people were taken to the hospital by ambulance for treatment. All had been released by evening.
Twenty-seven others were taken to the hospital on two buses. Of those, 24 were not treated and three were treated for minor injuries and released, according to hospital spokeswoman Leslie Cook.
No deaths were reported.
Hospital officials for a time urged people not to go to the hospital unless it was an emergency. More doctors were called in to the emergency room and elective procedures were postponed.
Hospital operations returned to normal by mid-afternoon.
The crashes occurred amid a storm that dumped up to 2 inches of snow per hour in some areas of Colorado. By afternoon, parts of the Front Range received 9 inches and up to 2 feet was forecast south and east of Denver.
Cheyenne received only a few inches of snow.
