A school bus and a tow truck were among eight vehicles tangled up in a crash at Falls Road and Northern Parkway in Baltimore Tuesday evening, leaving five people injured. Baltimore police and paramedics descended on the busy intersection after a call came in reporting the pileup, according to fire department officials.
Baltimore Fire Department Chief Josh Fannon said the call reporting the crash came in at 6:13 p.m. Tuesday, as crews rushed to the scene at the intersection where Falls Road meets Northern Parkway. Fannon, who also serves as president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 964, said the crash left five people reported injured, according to WBFF. He said those injuries were considered noncritical.
Fire department officials said the eight-vehicle wreck included a school bus and a tow truck, though it was not confirmed whether any students were aboard the bus at the time. Spokespeople for both Baltimore City Public Schools and Baltimore County Public Schools did not respond to requests for comment, the station's report noted.
A Notoriously Steep, Busy Stretch of Roadway
The intersection sits along a section of Northern Parkway that has long carried a reputation for its grade. A 1995 Baltimore Sun article described the westbound stretch between Roland Avenue and Falls Road as a quarter-mile run that was among the city's steepest roads and also one of its most heavily traveled, according to baltimoresun.com. At the time, a Baltimore police traffic division lieutenant noted that despite the heavy traffic volume, few accidents had actually occurred on the hill in recent years.
That stretch of Northern Parkway has seen other incidents over the years. A separate Wednesday afternoon crash involving an overturned dump truck blocked Northern Parkway at Falls Road, after the truck, which was towing a steam roller on a trailer, jack-knifed and spilled dirt across the roadway, according to wbaltv.com, citing Baltimore city police. Emergency Management officials closed Northern Parkway between Falls Road and Roland Avenue while crews cleared that scene.
Another multi-vehicle crash struck nearby, at the intersection of Northern Parkway and Roland Avenue, when Baltimore City Police responded Thursday morning at 11:15 a.m., per wmar2news.com. Multiple people were reported injured in that crash, though their injuries were described as non-life-threatening, and police had not disclosed what caused it.
Separate Bus Crash Also Hit the Region
School bus safety has drawn fresh scrutiny elsewhere in the Baltimore area too. A school bus carrying students from the Maryland School for the Blind crashed through a building in Parkville on a Tuesday afternoon, as reported by cbsnews.com. The bus driver, a child who was on the bus, and an adult who was not on the bus were hospitalized with minor injuries, according to the Baltimore County Fire Department.
Baltimore County Police said their preliminary investigation found that a car traveling southbound crossed into the northbound lane and into the path of the bus, which then crashed into the building. The Maryland School for the Blind later thanked the Baltimore County Fire Department, EMS, law enforcement, and hospital personnel, saying it was grateful for their prompt response and care in a statement reported by the outlet.
No cause has been determined for Tuesday's crash at Falls Road and Northern Parkway, and it remains unclear whether any students were on the school bus involved. Fire officials have not released further details on the extent of the five reported injuries or the vehicles beyond the school bus and tow truck named in the original report.
