A crash in a residential area of East Franklin Street led to a vehicle fire and briefly closed the road, according to the Town of Chapel Hill.
An alert from the local government at 8:06 p.m. told travelers the stretch of East Franklin Street between Estes Drive and Boundary Street was closed as both the Chapel Hill fire and police departments responded to reports of a fire. A later update said the fire happened after two vehicles crashed near Carolina Avenue, a residential road in the bend of a curve of East Franklin Street.
Police said the drivers of both vehicles were transported to the hospital, with the driver of the vehicle that caught fire suffering “serious injuries” and the other driver’s injuries not believed to be life threatening.
The road reopened to normal traffic patterns roughly two hours after the crash, with Chapel Hill sharing an alert at 9:36 p.m. to travelers.
Chapel Hill’s update said the cause of the vehicle crash is under investigation, with no additional information being publicly shared as of late Friday night.
Featured photo via the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
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