PHOTOS: Winter weather caused a series of accidents along I-196 near Saugatuck, including a major truck crash. Smoke and flames covered the icy roadways early Monday morning, after a tandem trailer semi-truck barreled through thick concrete barriers and exploded on impact with the ground below.

Saugatuck Fire Chief Greg Janik says the call came in around 7 a.m. when high winds and icy conditions created low visibility for drivers. Witnesses say the truck was driving alone in the northbound lanes when it suddenly jackknifed, sending it off the highway and onto Old Allegan Road.

Jared Slenker was stuck in standstill traffic in the southbound lanes when he saw the crash happen in a matter of seconds. “When he hit the ground and the fireball went up for the first time, I felt it through the windows of my van,” he said. Slenker was one of several bystanders who took the unconscious driver up the hill. Shortly after, Slenker heard the second explosion.

WWMT-TV CBS 3 Kalamazoo

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PHOTOS: Swan Valley Fire was called to a trailer house fire Monday afternoon where they found flames coming from a bedroom window. The fire started around 12:50 p.m. at 3481 Swan Valley Highway. Firefighters quickly arrived. But as they started fighting the fire, the homeowners tried to go back into the burning trailer to recover items.

Firefighters had to physically stop them. Crystal said the homeowners attempted to re-enter the buildings several times after being told to stay back for their own safety. Fire Chief Travis Crystal said two mobile homes were joined together. Crystal said at one point, one of the homeowners climbed a ladder and was on the roof with an ax, trying to keep the fire from spreading to the attached house.

Firefighters were attempting to spray water on the buildings at the time. There are conflicting reports on whether or not the man was knocked off the building or if he jumped. When he was on the ground, he was restrained by firefighters. Chief Chrystal says that during that altercation, one of the firefighters was punched in the face. The firefighter was treated on the scene and released.

KIFI-TV ABC/CBS/CW+ 8 Idaho Falls

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VIDEO/PHOTOS: Google’s self-driving effort, Waymo, is at the forefront of the robotaxi movement. The company is already offering commercial service, with its distinctive white Jaguar I-Pace vehicles, in several American cities, with more to come in 2026. But robotaxis have not quite mastered all the human traffic world’s nuances yet.

So we’ve seen Waymo vehicles doing things such as driving around a parking lot honking at each other incessantly, bringing traffic to a halt by getting into standoffs, and, potentially more dangerously, driving passengers directly through an armed police standoff. It’s definitely still a work-in-progress.

Teaching the machines to interact with humans will require more time and effort. So in the meantime, Waymo decided to help diffuse some incidents by teaching human first responders how to interact with the machines. Waymo announced a partnership with the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) to create an online training program for police, EMS, and other first responders.

CarBuzz

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VIDEO: A woman died in a fire at a Lynnwood apartment complex late Sunday night. More than 70 fire fighters responded to a 2-alarm fire at The Martin at Meadowdale complex in the 16000 block of 44th Avenue W, according to South County Fire. The call initially came in around 11:40 p.m. The 34-year-old woman died from smoke inhalation, fire officials said. A man in his 30s, the only other occupant in the same unit, was taken to Swedish Hospital in Mill Creek for smoke inhalation and later released.

Twenty people, including 10 children — one of whom was an infant, were displaced by the fire. In total, the fire impacted eight units, but no one else was injured. The Snohomish County fire marshal is investigating the fire, which is believed to have started outside in a breezeway next to the apartments.

Fire officials said the ground floor unit occupied by the man and the woman had a smoke alarm, but it is not known if it was working. The Everett, Mukilteo and Bothell fire departments also provided support in the fire fight. Officials said the icy roof made fighting the blaze more difficult.

KING-TV NBC 5 Seattle

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An empty Quality Inn burned down in Okanogan early Monday morning. Okanogan County Emergency Management Director Maurice Goodall tells Non Stop Local the fire was reported around 1:30 am Monday. The location has been closed and vacant since 2023 when the building had a previous fire that caused extensive damage, Goodall shared.

Nobody was injured in the fire and no other buildings were impacted by the fire. Monday’s fire reportedly started near the north end of the building and spread south, eventually fully engulfing the building. At this time, the cause of the fire is being investigated by the Okanogan Fire District.

KHQ-TV NBC 6 Spokane

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