CHOKEPOINTS

20-vehicle crash blocked three lanes of northbound I-5 near Pierce–King County line in Fife

Jan 19, 2026, 6:11 AM | Updated: 8:07 am

I-5 fife 20-vehicle crash...

Traffic slowdown early Monday morning after a 20-car pileup on I-5 in Fife. (Photo courtesy of WSP)

(Photo courtesy of WSP)

The three left lanes on northbound I-5 near the Pierce/King County line in Fife were blocked for two hours due to an early morning collision involving 20 vehicles.

Just after 5 a.m. Monday, the Washington State Patrol (WSP) received reports of a crash at milepost 139.5 on I-5 in Fife.

“There was debris in the roadway that originally caused a 10-car pile up, as originally called out around 5 a.m. this morning,” WSP Trooper Kameron Watts stated. “That quickly escalated to approximately 20 vehicles being involved.”

The northbound lanes on I-5 reopened just before 7 a.m., KIRO Newsradio traffic confirmed.

This is a developing story, check back for updates 

Follow Frank Sumrall on X. Send news tips here.

Chokepoints

kingston ferry...

Chris Sullivan

Kingston’s new ferry ticket kiosk cut the line-cutting. Now it needs to fix the GPS problem

The Washington State Ferries put in a new ticket kiosk approaching the Kingston dock earlier this year to help ease congestion and line cutting.

4 hours ago

garbage truck fire NB I-5...

Jason Sutich

NB I-5 off-ramp to West Seattle back open after garbage truck fire

The exit ramp to West Seattle from northbound I-5 is fully blocked on Monday while a garbage truck burns in the middle of the roadway.

16 hours ago

tacoma car crash fatal...

MyNorthwest Staff

One killed after car splits in half in violent Tacoma crash

The collision happened just after 11 p.m. on Portland Avenue. A 28-year-old man, Duran Tessema, hit a power pole so hard that it cut his car in half.

22 hours ago

9th ave...

Chris Sullivan

SDOT plans to paint over Convention Center street art that won’t come off 9th Ave.

SDOT, which granted the Seattle Convention Center the permit to paint 9th Ave., now has a plan to fix the problem.

4 days ago

I-405 (2)...

Nate Connors

A full closure of I-405 will make for a rough weekend commute

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has scheduled a full closure of northbound I-405 between Renton and Bellevue.

4 days ago

road with paint seattle convention center...

Chris Sullivan

Seattle Convention Center paints itself into a transportation mess on 9th Ave

A Seattle Convention Center art event left a key I-5 access road covered in paint that can't be removed, and there's no timeline to reopen.

5 days ago

20-vehicle crash blocked three lanes of northbound I-5 near Pierce–King County line in Fife