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'It really is a chaotic scene,' OPP says of Highway 400 crash (11 photos)

Crash is between Mapleview Drive and Innisfil Beach Road
Shawn Gibson
Shawn Gibson

Highway 400's southbound and northbound lanes are closed south of Barrie following a multi-vehicle collision this morning between Mapleview Drive and Innisfil Beach Road. 

Twelve people have been taken to hospital with injuries that aren't considered serious, police told BarrieToday at the scene.

The crash, which happened around 11 a.m., involved approximately 25 vehicles, but several other vehicles are stuck within the road closure. 

David Thomas, a 45-year-old Barrie resident, was right in the middle of the crash along with his wife in their GMC truck. 

"We were on our way to Alliston hospital, actually, and I was going to be getting off at Innisfil Beach Road. But we didn't make it." he told BarrieToday at Georgian Downs, where some motorists were taken to get them off the highway.

Thomas said there were whiteout conditions at the McKay Road overpass. 

"It cleared up and we got into another one right in front of Georgian Downs," he said. "I was in the slow lane when the middle lane just started braking. We had a pickup truck the came out in front of us; we clobbered right into the side of him.

"We were hit about two or three times from behind," Thomas added. "We're OK, a little bit of air-bag rash, but the truck's not."

Thomas and his wife, who called 911, stayed in their vehicle for about two hours at the scene.

A Barrie Transit bus was dispatched to the crash site to shuttle people away from the area. They were waiting to speak to OPP officers at Georgian Downs. 

At around 4:30 p.m., Monday, OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said the vehicles had been removed from the scene, but the highway remained closed for plowing and road repairs. 

One tractor-trailer also spilled some of its load, Schmidt said around 1:30 p.m. He added the highway will remain closed for "a few more hours" during the clean-up.  

Schmidt said emergency crews were making progress at the scene, with heavy tow trucks handling the transport trucks involved and lighter tows taking care of smaller passenger vehicles. 

"It really is a chaotic scene," Schmidt said in a live video from around 1 p.m.

Schmidt said crews are dealing with gusting winds, whiteout conditions and blowing snow.

"There are all sorts of issues we're dealing with," the sergeant said. 

Several vehicles are involved, including transport trucks, cars, trucks and even a stretched limousine. Many sustained heavy damage, such as broken windows and bent steel, in the collision.

Tow-truck operator Omar Azeez, from the Roadstar company out of north-end Toronto, was at the crash scene for the cleanup.

He's been on scene at other pileups, "but this is probably the biggest," he told BarrieToday on the highway. "Another one happened a couple of weeks ago down in Milton and I was there for that one, too. It's a disaster every time when this happens."

Azeez said he's single and has no kids.

"You can't be married in this business," Azeez said, adding he does get nervous at crash scenes due to the many variables. "You have to have the stomach for it, because not everyone can do this and deal with certain things that not other people can see."