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Fiery Wreck On I-78 In Berks Hospitalizes Driver: Police

A Maryland man is hospitalized after ramming into a dump truck on a Berks County highway late on Wednesday, Feb. 1, authorities say. 

I-78 crash wreckage in Tilden Township on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023.

I-78 crash wreckage in Tilden Township on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023.

Photo Credit: Facebook/Fire Alerts Of Berks County

A dump truck was parked on the right shoulder and partially in the eastbound lane of I-78 in Tilden Township to conduct roadwork, state police said in a release. The truck was equipped with a flashing, yellow signal board instructing drivers to move left to avoid work vehicles, they added. 

At about 9:45 p.m., an eastbound tractor-trailer failed to switch lanes in time and crashed into the rear of the dump truck, badly damaging the rig's fender and fuel tank, troopers said. 

Both vehicles were "engulfed in flames" when they came to a rest in the eastbound lane and right shoulder, and multiple fire departments responded to the scene before the blaze was extinguished, police wrote. 

The driver, Lorenzo Jones of Glenarden, Maryland, was treated at Geisinger St. Luke's Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the release. Troopers said he was also cited for failure to obey traffic control devices, a summary offense. 

The dump truck operator was not injured, they added. 

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