Multi-vehicle crash at I-70 rest area draws hazmat response; county crews handle alarms, rescues and utility calls through the day
Emergency responders returned repeatedly to the I‑70 eastbound rest area in Myersville on Tuesday after an initial multi‑vehicle collision late morning and a separate hazmat‑classified call at the same location in the early afternoon. At 11:55 a.m., units were dispatched to a reported vehicle accident at I‑70EB near the rest area; E82 arrived shortly after and reported the crash was prior to Route 17 and that crews were checking on occupants. Later updates listed four vehicles involved and A89 evaluating one patient; responding units were held on scene while E82 continued operations.
Less than two hours later — at 1:04 p.m. — Frederick Scanner posted a separate dispatch classification for the same rest area as a vehicle accident with a hazmat response. That later alert listed a large multi‑unit response, including hazardous materials units HM33, HM50 and HMSU33 alongside multiple engines, battalion and special operations resources. The hazmat dispatch was issued on radio channel 9D; no verified updates from the hazmat call itself were included in the available logs.
The county’s midday activity threaded through a series of routine alarm investigations and utility reports that kept fire and public safety crews traveling across Frederick County. Commercial and residential fire alarms accounted for several calls from the early morning through the evening. At 12:58 a.m., crews were dispatched to a commercial alarm at Autumn Lake Healthcare at Ballenger Center Drive; PE311 reported on scene with nothing evident and later reset the pull station and alarm system. Other commercial alarms—at Morgan Keller on Thomas Johnson Drive, NYMEO Field at Harry Grove Stadium and a strip center on Presidents Court—resulted in building contacts, construction dust or malfunctioning systems and units being placed back in service after investigations.
Utility and wires calls also punctuated the day. Early in the morning PE23 removed a communication line from the roadway on East Seventh Street and notified the utility company. Later at 10:48 a.m. that same unit reported dangling communications lines at E. Fifth Street and Chapel Alley. At 11:22 a.m., E331 reported damage to a wire connected to a transformer near Bartonsville Road and Boone Avenue; the unit said a fire had burned itself out at the pole and that power was out in the area, with the utility company notified.
Rescue assignments drew a large, multi‑agency response in the afternoon. At 2:24 p.m., a river rescue was dispatched to the Brunswick boat ramp on South Maple Avenue; T5 reported across‑bridge reconnaissance and then contacted boaters who confirmed they were not in need of assistance, recommending incoming units return to non‑emergency status. A separate mountain rescue was dispatched to Hog Rock in Catoctin Mountain Park at 3:37 p.m.; updates show E102 and partner units locating a patient between Hog Rock and Route 77, establishing command, packaging the patient and beginning egress via a stokes basket with TR29 and SAF901 deployed.
Throughout the evening crews handled additional public‑safety checks and hazard calls. A gas odor investigation in Brunswick at 8:57 p.m. led PE52 to perform meter readings and trace the source to a neighboring residence where the gas supply had been shut off and the homeowner advised to contact their supplier. Vehicle‑fire and transformer reports were investigated with utilities notified where appropriate, and several automatic crash notifications resulted in units checking the area and, in at least one case, finding nothing further on scene.
