ROSS TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Tow truck drivers received hundreds of calls for stranded and wrecked vehicles Sunday after Pittsburgh-area roadways froze, causing several crashes.

Several accidents were reported across the region, and at least one fatal, weather-related crash was reported on an icy U.S. Route 22 in Murrysville at about 7:30 a.m.

AAA road crews were called to as many as 504 service calls between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. -- three times the average call volume for a Sunday. Most of the calls were requests for tow trucks for vehicles stuck on icy roads.

Keith McCreary of McCreary Towing in West View saw front-end damage, broken taillights and bumpers ripped off cars Sunday.

"It's kind of like, I would say, standing on a skating rink. It was really slippery," he said. "A lot of black ice, literally, black ice. You didn't know it until you hit it."

Drivers said one of the worst things was not knowing if there would be ice from one spot to the next. Some drivers pointed out ice in the parking lot of the McKnight-Siebert Shopping Center in Ross Township but said the nearby roads were clear.

"We didn't know there were any problems. We went to church, then we got on the road and couldn't figure out (why) all the cars were backed up," said Joshua Herzing, of Mount Lebanon.

"We live on top of a big hill. Strangely enough, there's no ice. The temperature was 36, according to our car. When we drove into the valley of ice, it was colder and there was more ice there," said Stephen Strout, of Shaler.

McCreary received his first call at about 7:30 a.m. From there, the accidents continued to come in.

"At one point, I was at one call and I got out of my truck to see what the situation was and my truck decided to slide by itself for a little bit. It was pretty scary," he said.

Five accidents were reported in just two hours.

"Another gentleman told me he was on the side of the road and was up against a guardrail, (when he) got out of his car and a snow plow came down and lost control. (I'm) not sure if it was a private snow plow or whatever, but it hit him on the one side," McCreary said.

"At one point, I was at one call and I got out of my truck to see what the situation was and my truck decided to slide by itself for a little bit. It was pretty scary." - Keith McCreary of McCreary Towing in West View

McCreary said the upside was that it all happened on a day when most people didn't have to work. No one was seriously hurt and there was no major damage.

"It was shocking to me. I'd be driving and my truck would start to slide a little bit. (It was) a little shaky, a little scary, but (I) made it through it. (I) just took my time. (I) was in no hurry (and) didn't want to get in an accident myself and have somebody come and get me," McCreary said.

In Slippery Rock Township, a vehicle crashed into a creek, ending up nose-down into a tree. Two people were inside the vehicle. Their identities and conditions were not known.

Westmoreland County officials told WTAE Channel 4's Jennifer Miele that crews had a hard time trying to get in. Several accidents were reported on Lincoln Way and Route 993. In New Derry, an ambulance transporting a patient hit black ice and turned over onto its side, Miele reported.

Two cars crashed on Route 844 in Canton Township, and a third vehicle driven by a fire-police vehicle ended up sliding into the back end of one of the crashed cars. A vehicle slid off the road and into a tree on Route 19 in North Strabane Township.

An accident was reported in Baldwin involving an emergency vehicle, and, in Plum, as many as five major accidents and several fender-benders were reported.

In Greentree, police began blocking the inbound side of the Parkway West, while a car slid off the road into the guardrail on the outbound side.

Traffic Watch 4's Scott Stiller reported shortly after 11:30 a.m. that southbound Interstate 79 reopened in the Carnegie area after a tractor-trailer jackknifed. I-79 had been closed for about four and a half hours.

Portions of the inbound Parkway West -- which was closed from Carnegie to the Fort Pitt Tunnels -- remained closed through 11:45 a.m.

In the east, authorities shut down the Parkway East at about 7 a.m. between the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and Edgewood/Swissvale exits. The outbound lanes were reopened shortly before 10:30 a.m., and both directions reopened by 11:15 a.m.

A multivehicle accident on city side of the Squirrel Hill Tunnels clogged the Parkway East early Sunday morning. Several vehicles were involved in a crash at the bottom of the hill near Saline Street. Crews had to stop traffic at the tunnels until the scene was cleared.

Shortly before 11 a.m., WTAE Channel 4's Bob Mayo reported light stop-and-go traffic on McKnight Road and that conditions have improved on the Parkway North.

Mayo reported from the Veteran's Bridge that tow truck drivers described seeing "pure mayhem." An ambulance lost control on the ice on Washington Boulevard at Negley Run in Pittsburgh and collided with another car.

Officials had closed the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Warrendale and New Stanton because of icy conditions. Read more here...

WTAE Channel 4's Andrew Stockey reported from Washington County on Interstate 70 that the highway was closed at Route 51 from Smithton to Belle Vernon.

Traveling north of the city, Stiller said shortly before noon that there were no major closures, but travel conditions remained treacherous. In Beaver County, major roadways reopened shortly before 11:30 a.m., except for Route 18 at Route 60 in Center Township, Stiller reported.

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