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 At least one person died, 10 were injured and six cars and
semi-trailers caught fire in the pile-up about 10 miles east of
Kalamazoo, Michigan State Police spokesman Lt. Rick Pazder told
Reuters.
Police briefly evacuated the area near the crash as formic acid
burned in one of the trailers, Pazder said. The evacuation order was
lifted when the formic acid burned off, he said.
Icy conditions and low visibility contributed to the crash at about
10 a.m. on Interstate 94. Pazder said the highway, which connects
the Great Lakes with the central United States, could remain closed
in both directions for many more hours as dozens of vehicles are
moved.
Fireworks in one of the trucks exploded at the scene, he said.
"There is one fatality so far and we hope it stays at that. As we
get to clearing vehicles there is potential there could be
additional fatalities," Pazder said.
 It was the most severe incident so far in three days of bitter cold
and snow that have gripped the U.S. Midwest and the East Coast as a
mass of Arctic air has moved in, causing snowflakes as far south as
Florida.
Bitter cold temperatures, below average even for this part of
winter, are expected to linger through the weekend, the National
Weather Service said.
None of the injured were in serious condition, said a spokeswoman
for two area hospitals that took in people from the crash.
COLD TO CONTINUE
Stormy weather shut highways in many Eastern and Midwestern states,
from Western New York to Iowa on Friday. New York Governor Andrew
Cuomo warned that the stormy weather would worsen again in the
afternoon and some roads would remain closed for safety.
The National Weather Service said cold temperatures would prevail
east of the Rockies through the weekend, with icing likely from
Texas to the Ozarks and into sections of Illinois.
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Many Midwestern schools and outdoor recreation areas were shut on
Wednesday and Thursday because of the danger of frostbite. Students
were back in school on Friday in Chicago, the country's third
biggest school district with 400,000 students.
Ski and snowboarding areas were beginning to reopen as well.
In South Dakota the city of Sioux Falls' Great Bear Recreation Park,
a ski, tubing and boarding area in the hills on the city's east
side, reopened on Friday as temperatures rose to 6 degrees
Fahrenheit.
Dan Grider, general manager of the park, said the wind chill in the
environment, plus the skier-made wind chill can add up to dangerous
conditions.
"Going 20 mph into a wind, it's really cold," he said, adding that
the area had been closed earlier in the week because of staff safety
considerations.
(Additional reporting by Todd Epp in Sioux Falls; Writing by Fiona
Ortiz; Editing by Bill Trott, Diane Craft and David Gregorio)
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