Semi leaves Interstate 80, crashes into Morris apartment building

A semitrailer lost control at 9:25 a.m. Wednesday on Interstate 80 at about mile marker 110 and left the road, hitting the treeline before crashing into an apartment building in the 1800 block of East Anne Lane in Morris.

Deputy Fire Chief Dave Wiechen said there were no injuries reported, although a mother did have her child taken to the hospital as a precaution. The driver signed a medical refusal on location.

“It was a tractor-trailer,” Wiechen said. “He was carrying dryers, like clothes dryers, and he had an approximately 12,000-pound load in his trailer.”

Wiechen said the driver removed himself from the vehicle, and the apartment building’s inhabitants were evacuating themselves when the fire department arrived. The fire department searched the building three times to make sure everyone made it out, and all searches came back clear. There were six apartments in the building.

The building is uninhabitable, and it was expected to be evaluated further Thursday. The semi also spilled about 150 gallons of diesel fuel onto the ground and into the building’s crawlspace, and Wiechen said there was a cleanup company at the building.

The American Red Cross was at the scene and is aiding the apartment building’s occupants with finding shelter.