Car fire closes outbound Parkway West for more than hour Saturday

The outbound lanes of the Parkway West approaching Carnegie were closed for more than an hour Saturday after a crash and vehicle fire.

Pennsylvania State Police said a vehicle that began to slow down because of traffic congestion was rear-ended by another vehicle, the driver of which had looked away from the roadway to retrieve his coffee.

Shortly after the crash, small flames were noticed beneath one of the vehicles, police said. The flames intensified and engulfed the vehicle after it was backed away from the second vehicle involved in the accident.

RAW VIDEO: Car fire closes Parkway West

A woman who was a passenger in the vehicle that was struck from behind suffered a back injury and was taken to Allegheny General Hospital, police said. The driver and three juvenile passengers were not hurt.

The driver of the other vehicle was injured, but the severity was not known by police.

Around the same time as the car fire, a Channel 11 News crew reported at least two other traffic incidents within a 1-mile stretch of the highway between Carnegie and the Fort Pitt Tunnels. The inbound lanes were also closed for a short time.

Cox Media Group