One Dead After Wrong-Way Crash On I-290 In Northborough

NORTHBOROUGH, MA — One person has died after a fiery head-on crash in Northborough on Wednesday.

One person died after a wrong-way crash on Interstate 290 eastbound in Northborough led to a vehicle fire and a large emergency response. The crash was reported on Wednesday at 8:57 p.m. before Exit 27, near Hudson Street and Solomon Pond Road, the Northborough Fire Department said.

Multiple 911 callers reported a head-on collision involving a wrong-way driver and at least one vehicle on fire, according to officials.

Fire officials said the crash involved two passenger vehicles, later identified as a Subaru and a Jeep. One vehicle was on its side when crews arrived and both vehicles were fully involved in fire, according to the department.

Northborough police officers and Massachusetts State Police troopers were already at the scene trying to extinguish the flames when firefighters arrived, fire officials said. Northborough crews were assisted by Berlin, Marlborough and Westborough fire personnel after all on-duty Northborough fire resources were already committed to two other emergency medical calls.

The driver and sole occupant of one vehicle escaped before emergency crews arrived and was taken by Northborough ambulance to UMass Memorial Medical Center with injuries that were not life-threatening, officials said.

The driver and sole occupant of the second vehicle could not be rescued and was pronounced dead at the scene, fire officials said. The victim was later removed from the vehicle and taken by the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Firefighters worked for about 30 minutes and used an estimated 2,000 gallons of water to extinguish the fire. Interstate 290 eastbound was closed at Exit 24, at Church Street, while Massachusetts State Police, the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office, the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and Crime Scene Services investigated.

I-290 eastbound reopened at about 1 a.m., according to the Northborough Fire Department.

The crash remains under investigation by Massachusetts State Police and the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office.

This was just the latest of wrong-way crashes in the Bay State.

A wrong-way crash in Lynnfield killed State Trooper Kevin Trainor, of Salem, on May 6, and a subsequent wrong-way crash injured another state trooper weeks later in Peabody.

Following those incidents, Gov. Maura Healey announced a multi-year initiative introducing new wrong-way driver detection technology, upgraded signs, and longer-term road changes at more than 500 high-risk locations across the state.

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