Ice causes dozen-car pileup in Bellmawr

Rain and ice caused a pileup of a dozen vehicles Sunday that damaged a fire engine on a New Jersey Turnpike overpass Sunday.

The trouble began when firefighters and an EMS crew responded to a one-car accident on Route 42 in Bellmawr, Fire Chief Jim Burleigh said.

The responders blocked the road with a fire engine to protect workers at the scene, Burleigh said. As the EMS crew worked to treat the driver involved in the accident, another car slid on the ice and hit the fire engine.

That car was totaled, and the fire engine had extensive damage, Burleigh said. A firefighter in the driver's seat of the truck was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and was released Sunday afternoon.

The driver involved in the first accident was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Ten minutes after the car hit the fire truck, another car slid into Burleigh's car, which had been parked behind the fire engine.

And 15 minutes after that, another driver lost control on the ice and that third car hit Burleigh's.

"It ended up being 12 vehicles involved over a 30-minute period that slid into each other," Burleigh said.

By 4 p.m. Sunday, he said, officials had responded to 15 accidents around Bellmawr.

"It's a busy day," Burleigh said. "There's days when we're out there several times in the area, but not all within two hours."