'Never seen a fire like that': 1 dead, 9 hospitalized in QEII crash north of Airdrie, Alta.

One person is dead and nine people were taken to hospital by ambulance following a Tuesday night crash on the QEII highway involving at least 14 vehicles.

Emergency crews were called to the crash scene, located north of Veterans Boulevard and south of the Highway 72 overpass near Crossfield, shortly after 10 p.m.

RCMP officials say one person was pronounced dead on scene. The identity of the deceased was not released.

A preliminary investigation into the crash determined the vehicles involved included:

• A commercial vehicle with trailer;
• 5 sedans;
• 4 pickup trucks;
• 3 SUVs; and,
• A passenger van.

Nine people were taken to hospital in non-life-threatening condition with various injuries.

Poor weather, visibility and road conditions are suspected factors in the fatal crash.

Mike Crampton encountered the crash scene moments after it happened.

"I've never seen a fire like that. They couldn't get it out," Crampton told CTV News. "They were watering it down like crazy and it wouldn't go out. I’ve never been close to something like that before."

Crampton says his drive from Airdrie to Didsbury took 90 minutes Tuesday night, nearly three times the normal duration.

"The roads were brutal. I have a set of winter tires, and I'm thankful for that because it was really icy and thick, thick fog so you couldn't see very far in front of you or anything. I was just kind of watching the line on the road to stay on the road."

The northbound lanes of the highway were closed to traffic for several hours and, as of Wednesday morning, traffic delays continued. A single northbound lane was reopened to traffic at around 11:30 a.m.

RCMP say highways in the area remained snow covered and icy early Wednesday morning and visibility was poor due to blowing snow and fog.