2 dead after 4-vehicle crash involving tractor-trailer on Route 65

PITTSBURGH — Two people are dead after a multivehicle accident Friday that shut down State Route 65 near Interstate 79, state police said.

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Route 65 reopened around 7:30 p.m. after being shut down in both directions in Sewickley Borough for most of the afternoon and evening.

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State police said a 2001 Audi A6 2.7T was traveling north on Route 65 in the left lane when the car crossed the center line into the southbound lanes, striking a tractor trailer.

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Upon impact the tractor-trailer exploded into flames, which caught a 2012 Ford Transit van on fire, authorities said. The Audi then spun around counter-clockwise into the northbound lanes, hitting the front end of a 2008 Nissan Versa.

Police said the driver of the Audi and the driver of the tractor-trailer were both pronounced dead. State police identified the Audi driver as Dale Stetzer, 69, of Pittsburgh. The tractor-trailer driver was identified as William Anthony Cessna, 52, of Apollo.

The other two drivers suffered non-life threatening injuries, state police said.

WPXI-TV Facebook fan Shawna Davis Holsinger sent in a photo from her vehicle about a mile before the Neville Island Bridge that showed smoke shooting into the air. She said people were out of their cars and that she could smell gas.

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Bob Westfall, of Washington County, said he approached the crash scene knowing there was trouble ahead.

“(I saw) smoke clear back to the highway, but everybody thought it was something down here in the bottom,” Westfall said.

Other witnesses said a car crashed into the truck, knocking out an axle and splitting it in half. They said the truck then burst into flames and the diesel tank ruptured, leaking fuel across the highway.

According to several witnesses, the fuel ignited.

“When I come up to here, there was a straight truck on fire. I mean just flames were shooting high, and it was diesel running across the road,” Westfall said.

Authorities said their investigation into the crash continues.

WPXI