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4 men injured in fiery Highway 17 crash in northern Ontario: OPP

Ontario police investigating after man found dead in Lake of the Woods

Four men were taken to hospital with what police are calling non life-threatening injuries after a fiery, early-morning crash involving at least three tractor-trailers on Highway 17A — also known as the Kenora, Ont., bypass.

According to a written release by Ontario Provincial Police issued Monday morning, the collision occurred just west of the eastern junction of Highway 17 and the bypass.

Cst. Ronni Grosenick of the Kenora OPP said investigators still aren't sure how many vehicles were actually involved in the crash.

"The wreckage is pretty significant," Grosenick said. "It was a huge inferno."

Provincial police said just after 5 a.m. they were notified of the crash, which engulfed the three vehicles in flames and blocked the highway.

The Longbow Lake Fire Department and the Kenora Fire Service both responded to the blaze. Kenora's emergency services manager, Todd Skene, told CBC News it's amazing that everyone was able to walk away.

He added that the circumstances of the fire — involving multiple vehicles on a highway in a rural area — presented some challenges.

"Of course, getting a line and getting a water supply into something like that and, because everything is encased in a trailer, it's really tough to get water on a lot of it," he said.

"You have to get things opened up."

No dangerous goods in trucks

Skene said that one positive from the crash is that none of the vehicles was carrying any dangerous goods in the trailers.

One truck was hauling wood chips, he added.

Several people remained on the scene, uninjured, after officers arrived, the OPP said.

Police are asking travellers to re-route along Highway 17 through Kenora, as the bypass — between Highway 17 and Jones Road, near the airport — will be closed for most of the day, as police continue the investigation and cleanup.