Kirk Walstedt recalled it was a relatively clear day at his home a short distance from Highway 401 in Lakeshore, but then a fog fell, and the carnage began.
Walstedt, a Lakeshore town councillor now, was one of the first on the scene September 3, 1999; the day traffic on the highway near Manning Road descended into chaos killing eight people, and changing the lives of all involved.
During an interview with BlackburnNews.com, he remembered the sound of one vehicle smashing into another, and another, and another. He also recalled that strange fog.
"There was a fog bank just like a sock right over the 401," he said. Survivors in the days and weeks that followed the crash described an incredibly dense fog.
Some said it was like someone had thrown a blanket over the windshield of their vehicle. The sky was clear, and then it was not.
"I got down to the field, walked up onto the highway. Within a few feet, you could walk into the fog and then walk out," he said. "It was like walking into a room and closing the door."
Later it was discovered a malfunction at the Windsor Airport Observation Station failed to detect the foggy conditions. There was no warning for drivers.
The investigation revealed it started with one tractor-trailer entered the fog and braked suddenly. A second tractor-trailer then jack-knifed. There was a second collision in the oncoming lanes as well, and the carnage lasted for several minutes. A total of 87 vehicles were involved sparking a fire so intense; it melted the asphalt of the highway.
Walstedt, his father and brother did what they could for the survivors by removing them from the collision scene to a safer distance.
"I drove my truck up onto the highway," he said. "Loading people in the back of my pickup... and we'd drive out to the field, take them out and get another load: broken legs, broken arms. There's one individual, we got him out, I think he had a broken back. I think he may have passed away a short time later."
He was one of eight people whose lives were cut short. Others burned in their vehicles or suffered fatal injuries when they were struck trying to flee the accident. Another 45 people were injured.
Many of the first responders have said they continue to be haunted by the crash. Not Walstedt. The passage of time has helped him put it behind him, but now and then the memory comes back with force.
"I hear something in a movie, or I hear something outside, it'll kinda bring back, like right away," he said.