NEAR VANTAGE, Wash. -- A roadside brush fire in Central Washington has shut down Interstate 90 after a series of cars smashed into one another.
Washington State Patrol reports there is at least one fatality. A driver of a semi-truck was killed when it ran into another truck. He has been identified only as a 60 year old man from University Place.
Troopers said a brush fire started near the Ryegrass rest stop. Wind caused smoke from the fire to drift over I-90, causing poor visibility.
Tapped in the middle, a group of Washington State University students headed to Seattle for a field trip. They say the flames were so intense, you could feel the heat on the windows of their bus.
"I thought it was really scary," said Professor Nancy Swanger.
Hospitality School student Rosita Sandell said, "It was pretty horrible to see," of the crash.
Conditions were so poor, at least 10 cars crashed, prompting troopers to close I-90 between milepost 115 (five miles past the I-82 turn off) and 137 (near the Columbia River crossing at Vantage).
It is unknown the identity of the driver who was killed.
The size of the fire is also unknown.
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