SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, Pa. — It's been one year since the deadly pile-up that killed six people and injured dozens more on Interstate 81 north in Schuylkill County.
"I just happened to be standing in the back room at the 911 set talking to a dispatcher when the first call came in. In the minutes that followed, about five minutes later, there were about five passenger vehicles and seven commercial vehicles involved," said John Matz, Schuylkill County Emergency Management Coordinator.
In the year following the wreck, Schuylkill County Emergency Management Coordinator John Matz says new technology on that stretch of highway aims to make it safer.
"PennDOT has installed variable speed limit signs, so as they are looking at cameras, they are getting feedback from the national weather service they can identify that something is going on in order to lower the speed limit," said Matz.
While new asphalt may be the only physical reminder of that deadly wreck, for EMS and first responders, it's the memories that will stay with them forever.
"My crew responded here, arrived to just a chaotic scene, multiple vehicles on fire, multiple people trapped, tractor trailers, passenger vehicles," said Chief Mike Mistishen, Goodwill Fire & EMS.
The days after the fatal pile-up are what EMS Chief Mike Mistishen remembers most, saying it serves as a reminder that anything can happen anywhere at any time.
"It's just you could never train 100 percent for everything that's going to happen. So many things happened two or three days after that event with situations that arise that had to be dealt with, so you prepare yourself for the next time, hoping that next time never comes," said Chief Mistishen.
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