I-71 South crash and fire in north Columbus closed highway, exit ramps

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – One person has been hospitalized and a major Columbus highway was closed after a crash and fire early Wednesday morning.

According to Columbus police a vehicle crashed into a support beam of an underpass at the highway interchange of I-71 South and the exit ramps at I-270 on the north side of the city. It remains unknown what led up to the crash, but Columbus Fire Chief Jeffrey Geitter said it was a single vehicle accident.

The vehicle, which appeared totaled after the crash, reportedly veered off the road and slammed into a support beam, causing the vehicle to catch fire and the support beam to be covered in soot from the smoke.

Chief Geitter said the fire was extinguished at around 6:25 a.m. and the driver was rescued from the vehicle and taken to an area hospital in critical condition.

According to the Ohio Department of Transportation, I-71 South was closed for approximately two hours at the highway interchange and several both southbound exit ramps were closed at I-270 of four exit ramps were closed.

Inbound traffic during the morning rush hour was backed up as far as the Polaris exit. Use your NBC4 app or visit https://www.nbc4i.com/traffic/ for updates.