I-90 Closed East and West due to Fatal Black Ice Accident

UPDATE---7:00 A.M. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19

One man is dead in the incident that has closed I-90. MHP Trooper Rosenbaum says a truck driver exited his vehicle and in an attempt to avoid being struck by another vehicle, leaped over a bridge railing and fell to his death.

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A fatality has been reported, and one firefighter has been injured while responding to multiple accidents on Interstate 90 west of Missoula near Tarkio due to black ice conditions.

Frenchtown Fire District spokesman Mel Holtz described the situation just before 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

"We have a developing situation that has happened in Mineral County," began Holtz. "There has been a multiple vehicle accident with semis and passenger vehicles involved. We just got word that a firefighter has been hit while he was out there. We're seeing black ice conditions out here and we're asking people to be really cautious."

Holtz confirmed that I-90 has been closed in both directions.

"Interstate 90 has been closed in both directions out in that Tarkio area," he said. "So that we can get this figured out. Superior Fire, the Montana Highway Patrol and the Missoula County Sheriff's Office are all responding. The situation is still developing."