By: Phil Van Pelt; David Jay
HARDIN — On Friday, July 15, 2022, there was a multi-vehicle crash along I-90 east of Billings when a dust storm swept through the region and reduced highway visibility to almost zero.
Six people - including two children - died in the 21-vehicle pile-up, and eight people were hospitalized. The names of the people who died have not yet been released, and there is no word on the current condition of the people that were hospitalized.
The incident was reported at around 4:30 p.m and centered near mile marker 493, several miles west of the town of Hardin.
"The wind was blowing in one direction on the left side and another on the right. At first I wasn't sure if we were in a forming tornado or not," said Chad Baker, a survivor of the Hardin crash
Chad and his son Cade were traveling from Billings to Sheridan, Wyoming and were caught in the middle of the storm as it unfolded.
Chad said that normally in a traffic jam, he would just stay put and wait it out but he had a feeling he needed to get off the road.
"I made a split-second decision to pull off the road and get out of the way," added Baker - a decision that very well may have saved their lives.
Baker has thoughts on what caused the event as well. "It's been very dry, the hay fields were exposed and when you add in over 60 mile per hour winds, I think that's what caused it," added Baker.
“As we got closer into the dust storm, you could start seeing the vehicles in the ditch. There was a camper, the whole side of it was blown off, the top was off of it. Front ends of vehicles were smashed in," said Landa Uffelman.
Others said dust obscured the view of the scene from outside of 10 feet.
“We couldn’t even see like ten feet in front of us so we immediately hit our brakes. On both sides, there were cars braked and stopped, and then I saw a van that was just pancaked into the back of a semi. And then behind it, there were about 20-30 vehicles that were piling up on each other," said Tom Howe, who had passed through the scene.
"You could just barely seeing anything outside of the vehicle," said Treston Big Hair. "We didn't even have time to turn down our music. I was just so focused on on the road and then worrying about other things at the same time, but I just focused on the road trying to get off and get into a safe place and try to calm down and situate ourselves."
Survivors talk about deadly crash near Hardin
Big Hair and his family were heading east on Interstate 90 toward Hardin when they got caught in the dust storm.
"They said just get off to the left side and I was like what about the right side and they said no get of to the left," said Big Hair. "Right when I turned to get off to the left with the car like barely clipped us."
They say the car that clipped them had not yet slowed down and they were still concerned.
"That's why it was so scary because you could just hear people trying to hit their brakes and they like smashed right into another car," said Jalen High Hawk. "We were bracing ourselves for it because his cars were coming too near real fast and you pray for the best and nobody hits you."
MTN News
High Hawk, Treston's uncle, was in the back seat, and says they stayed in the car until emergency crews arrived, and when they knew there was no chance of getting hit by a vehicle.
"Nobody could get out of their cars," High Hawk said. "It was not even safe at all. My whole life flashed before my eyes. It was scary. Apocalyptic. There were cars like way back there on the road on the highway. There were cars on the side over there by the fence, and there were cars smashed against each other."
“It was like a snowstorm but dust it was very low visibility, it was like fog. It reminded me of very dense fog," Ariel Dehart told MTN News.
Sheyenne Scheeler saw several cars that were crushed. She called the incident "gut wrenching," and said: “The first thing that we saw was a pickup that had been pulling a camper and the camper looked like it had been ripped open like a can. And then after that we started seeing more cars that had rear ended."
MTN
The wreck was an experience that everyone involved hopes they never have to experience again and one the Bakers will never forget.
"My heart goes out to the victims and their families. I'm just very thankful my son and I were able to come out of this safely," said Baker.
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