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First responders recover after many hours working Interstate 81 crash

After 40 hours of work, Interstate 81 is back open.

MINERSVILLE, Pa. — Firefighters from the Minersville Fire & Rescue were some of the first to arrive at the scene of Monday's massive 80 vehicle pileup on Interstate 81. 

They say the hours that followed would be some of the most horrific and challenging moments of their lives.

Minersville Fire Chief Eric Eichenberg says it was a scene like no other.

"As we're en route up 901, you could see the smoke from the fires of all the trucks that were burning," he said.

"It was like, we gotta do this or people are going to be more injured, you're going to see more casualties, and I don't want that," added Matt Hinderliter, rescue captain.

Hinderliter described the chain-reaction wreck as an accordion, a sea of crumpled cars and trucks he and other rescuers sifted through.

"Multiple times we were under a tractor-trailer truck, over a tractor-trailer truck, jump over a car, go through the cabs of a tractor-trailer truck, and all of the sudden you're like, 'oh there's somebody there that's trapped.' That's how we had to find them," he said.

Meanwhile, a fire raged, fueled by hundreds of gallons that came leaking out of the vehicles.

"Motors are ripped right out of trucks. So there's oils, antifreeze, you know, all kinds of fluids. Everything was just all over the highway," said Eichenberg.

Firefighters battled the flames late into the cold, windy night. Community members made sure they were fed.

"They picked up sub trays and brought them down here to feed the guys. They were totally exhausted," said Sean Palmer, Minersville Mayor.

Minersville Fire & Rescue was relieved by other departments after 12 hours of intense work but returned in the morning to finish the job. They're now working through what happened.

"You still think about stuff like this. It's not like a light switch where you just turn it off, and it's gone, but I think our guys are doing very well," said Hinderliter.

While the first responders try to recover from this tragedy, they're also still trying to clean up their equipment. 

Fuels and oils soaked into some of the hoses they used to put out that fire. 

The chief says several will have to be replaced. 

One of the people seriously hurt in Monday's pileup on Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County is a man from Bloomsburg. His family is waiting for good news. Watch the video below:

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