It was more like a war zone than a traffic accident just before the Interstate 85 South exit to Fairburn and Peachtree City.

In its wake, two people died and four were injured Tuesday in a multi-vehicle accident that left four vehicles on fire and traffic backed up for hours.

With one exception, the identities of those killed and injured have not been released, according to Fulton County Police Public Information Officer Gary Syblis.

The only injured person identified thus far is WAGA-TV reporter Doug Evans, who was airlifted to Grady Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The accident occurred just after 3 p.m. in the southbound lanes of I-85 between Ga. Highway 138 and Ga. Highway 74 near the Spence Road overpass. Fairburn Fire Chief Jody Weller was the first on the scene.

Weller described seeing plumes of black smoke rising above the tree line as he left the fire station in Fairburn only a mile away.

Weller shut down the northbound lanes of I-85 as a precautionary measure after discovering that two of the burning vehicles were open-top tractor-trailer trucks with unknown contents on fire. The trucks were apparently carrying some type of garbage or construction debris.

“I closed the northbound lanes because we weren’t sure what the trucks had in them,” Weller said. “And we needed to have responding units be able to access the scene.”

Though the cause of the accident is undetermined so far, Syblis said the vehicles involved included two tractor-trailer trucks with roll-offs, a GMC Sierra pick-up, a Chrysler and a Honda.

The fatalities included the driver of the pick-up, whose vehicle was trapped under one of the tractor-trailers, and one of the semi drivers. Others injured included the other tractor-trailer driver and two females in the Chrysler.

“This was a very serious accident,” Weller said Wednesday. “You don’t see many accidents like that one, with four vehicles on fire and having to shut down both sides on an expressway. It’s major.”

Traffic along the north and southbound lanes of I-85 was shut down until nearly 8 p.m., with thousands of vehicles immobilized until drivers could find alternative routes. Major surface streets in Union City and Fairburn were gridlocked for hours.

The accident reconstruction will be performed by Fulton County Police.

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