I-95 reopens after 3-day closure due to fiery crash in Norwalk, Conn.

All lanes of Interstate 95 in Norwalk, Conn. reopened Sunday morning, three days after a fiery crash closed the highway and snarled tristate-area traffic.

Gov. Ned Lamont initially expected a Monday morning reopening, but the northbound lanes were cleared on Saturday night, and the southbound section reopened at 10 a.m. Sunday.

“It is truly remarkable to complete this work in less than 80 hours,” the governor wrote on Twitter.

About 160,000 cars pass through Norwalk on I-95 every day, but all traffic was halted and rerouted following a three-vehicle wreck around 5:30 a.m. Thursday.

The crash began when a Chevrolet Camaro driver attempted to merge and struck the front-end of an oil tanker, according to authorities. The tanker then swerved into another lane and struck a tractor-trailer, police said.

No one was injured in the crash, but the oil tanker was fully loaded with gasoline and went up in flames, eventually building to a towering inferno with smoke billowing into the air. The fire erupted directly below an overpass carrying Fairfield Ave. across I-95.

Fire crews put out the blaze in a few hours, but the flames damaged the bridge to the point that it was unstable. Officials responded by completely shutting down I-95 in Norwalk so construction crews could remove the bridge entirely. Demolition work began Friday morning.

“Damage was pretty severe due to the amount of gasoline that was in the tanker,” Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said Thursday evening. “We will have to build a new bridge.”

The bridge was less than 10 years old, and officials expect it will take at least one year to build a replacement span. Initial designs are expected within two weeks, according to CDOT.

“This has been a team effort, and I can’t thank enough the CTDOT crews, contractors and workers who spent the weekend ensuring the public could resume traveling on I-95 as soon as possible,” Eucalitto said. “While the roadway is open, the work continues as we are planning how and when the Fairfield Avenue Bridge will be replaced.”

None of the drivers involved in the crash have been publicly identified, though police said a 22-year-old man was driving the Camaro that started the chain reaction. Officials said each vehicle carried only one person.