The Nation - News from Aug. 4, 1988

A wind shift sent dense smoke from an out-of-control “field burn” drifting across Interstate 5 near Albany, Ore., triggering a 21-vehicle chain-reaction pileup that killed seven people and injured 37 others. “It’s the worst accident I’ve ever seen, and several officers have said basically the same thing,” State Police Senior Trooper Calvin Curts said after taking a helicopter flight over the wreckage. A 5-mile stretch of the northbound freeway was closed for more than six hours as the dead and injured were removed from twisted vehicles. The injured--many in critical condition--were rushed to hospitals in Albany and Corvallis. Troopers said the pileup involved 18 cars and three trucks and occurred around 3:50 p.m. An authorized field burn was under way an eighth of a mile from the freeway.