Two crashes involving tractor-trailers one of which caught fire and the other which caused a New York man to seek hospital treatment closed the Ohio Turnpike for more than two hours yesterday between the Maumee and Toledo Express Airport/Swanton interchanges, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.

A westbound tractor-trailer caught fire about 2 p.m., just west of the Maumee interchange after the driver lost control, struck the median, and scraped along the guardrail for at least 250 feet, troopers at the patrol s Swanton post said.

Andrew Keller, 46, of Portage, Mich., told troopers he lost control of the vehicle because he was choking.

The trailer a tanker was empty but contaminated by an industrial chemical, aluminum sulfide, troopers said.

Mr. Keller suffered minor injuries, but refused medical treatment at the scene, troopers said.

About an hour later, Walter W. Brudecki, 44, of West Seneca, N.Y., was eastbound on the turnpike, near the Toledo Express Airport/Swanton interchange, and slowing for stopped traffic because of the earlier accident when he was struck by a tractor-trailer driven by Allen Roy Kukowski, 61, of Roseau, Minn., troopers said.

Mr. Brudecki was treated at St. Luke s Hospital, troopers said.

MONTPELIER, Ohio A South Carolina man was killed yesterday when his tractor-trailer went off the Ohio Turnpike and into a ditch, struck a fence, and overturned a half-mile east of State Rt. 576 in Williams County s Bridgewater Township, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.

Roger D. Richardson, 53, of McLeansville, S.C., was pronounced dead on the scene, troopers at the patrol s Swanton post said.

Mr. Richardson was westbound on the turnpike about 10 a.m. when the accident occurred, troopers said.

First Published September 24, 2008, 1:00 p.m.