ROYAL OAK, Mich. – A crash Monday in the westbound lanes of I-696 in Royal Oak shut down the highway and sparked a massive fire as multiple cars and a semi truck went up in flames.
Officials said there were no injuries in the crash or the fire, which happened in the roadway just before the Woodward Avenue exit.
You can see video of the inferno below:
The three-vehicle accident happened around 1:30 p.m. Monday between Bermuda Street and Woodward Avenue.
"It sounded like an explosion, like a bomb," witness Mike Phillips said.
One of the vehicles involved was a semi truck, officials said.
"It was loud enough (that) it sounded like it happened two doors down," Phillips said.
A Durango was flipped on its side and wedged between the median and the semi truck, and out in front of a Chevy Malibu.
"They were all just scrambling around to help each other out of the situation," witness Jacob Clark said. "When I pulled up, I saw the ladies throwing each other out of the Durango, and I went up that way and just started heading, and that's when I heard the boom. All the tires exploding and smoke, black smoke and everything."
"When we first came, it was pitch black and a little bit of fire, and when we walked down, boom, and it all went into fire," witness Grace Lacolla said.
"It was like two big fireballs, like 20-30 feet in the air," witness Andrew Furno said. "That was when the firefighters were trying to put it out."
"It was intense, and it's the hottest day of the year so far, so it's hot," Royal Oak Fire Department Lt. Doug Stark said.
In the end, three drivers and a passenger walked away from both the crash and fire without injuries.
"It was probably the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life," Lacolla said.
"They were really lucky," Stark said.
There was nothing being hauled in the semi truck trailer, which probably helped the situation, according to officials.
Michigan Department of Transportation officials said there was no structural damage to the I-696 concrete, but the wall and a freeway light were damaged.