Eric McClain/North Central and Central WV Working Fires

One lane of Interstate 79 in West Virginia was closed down on Sunday for a tragic spill of Lego bricks. The bricks scattered across the highway, no doubt giving drivers traumatic flashbacks to the last time they stepped on a Lego brick in bare feet.

As hazardous as Legos are to unshod humans, they also pose a potential risk to vehicles. They may not be able to puncture a tire, but I imagine Legos could be pretty slippery, especially in the damp, cold conditions at the time. The only thing worse than a bunch of loose Legos on an interstate would be a bunch of wet, half-frozen loose Legos.

The spill spawned one of the most concise articles I've ever seen about a highway disaster. WDTV reported, "Around 5:15 Sunday afternoon, there was a roadway obstruction of Lego blocks on I-79 around mile marker 117 in Harrison County. Traffic was down to one lane until crews could clean up the mess." I imagine what took so long was the crews having to locate the pieces for, and put together, the entire "Hobbit" Bag End kit.

Fortunately, Anmoore, W.V., firefighter Eric McClain was on the scene of the toy disaster to take photos and help with cleanup. Facebook commentators helped to fill in the rest of the story. It wasn't a wreck involving a Lego semi-transport truck, but rather a couple of large containers full of bricks that fell off of a passenger vehicle.

A Facebook user named Tiffany Lantz chimed in to take responsibility, writing, "Those legos belonged to my 11 yr old son they where in totes strapped to the top of the durango they fell off strap came loose he cried it seemed like forever but I tried to recover as many as I could cause I don't have the money to buy him anymore." She went on to apologize to those who got stuck in traffic.

(Via Nerd Approved)