BY THE MARYSVILLE JOURNAL-TRIBUNE STAFF
UNION COUNTY – First responders continued to cleanup from an injury crash on State Route 4 at State Route 161 in Irwin on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 16, after a semi-truck overturned about 10:15 a.m. and hit a power line while carrying lithium batteries.
“None of the batteries are leaking, the fire department is on-scene and they are offloading the batteries,” Marysville Post Commander Lt. Matthew Himes of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said from the scene.
The roadway reopened at 6:30 p.m.
The driver of the semi, Mohamed Cheikh, 31, of Hilliard, was cited for failure to control and transported to Dublin Methodist Hospital with minor injuries.
Himes said that Cheikh was driving a commercial semi-truck loaded with lithium batteries that were picked up from Honda.
Cheikh was reportedly traveling south on State Route 4 at State Route 161 at the curve in Irwin and drove too fast, ran off the left side of the road, overturned and went through a utility pole.
“There was live wires down on the truck,” Himes said, adding that the power company responded to the scene. “The power has been turned off.”
Himes explained that the lithium batteries are encased in metal and were being transported in cardboard boxes. Responders were offloading the batteries by hand and stacking them on pallets to get them shrink-wrapped.
Himes stressed that none of the batteries leaked, and units from the Public Utilities Commission (PUCO) were on-scene handling hazmat regulations during the process of removing the batteries.
Lithium batteries have become a bigger worry for fire departments in recent years. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), lithium batteries can enter thermal runaway when damaged, “an unstoppable chemical reaction where cells heat rapidly and begin to spew toxic and flammable gases,” according to NFPA. “These gases can cause unpredictable explosions.”
Alongside the Ohio State Highway Patrol and PUCO, units from the Pleasant Valley Joint Fire District, Allen Township Fire Department and Union County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene. The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) also assisted with the crash.
According to statistics from the Ohio State Highway Patrol crash data, there have been 18 total crashes at the Irwin curve at Route 4 and Route 161 since Jan. 1, 2020. Seven were injury crashes and 11 were property damage crashes.
