Multiple accidents on Interstate 93 in Manchester made many commuters late for work Tuesday and sent four people to the hospital, including a firefighter and a woman with a serious head injury.

Roadways were “extremely icy” in several areas of I-93 for a time Tuesday morning, said state police spokeswoman Amber Legace.

Manchester fire crews “responded simultaneously to three different accident scenes” on I-93 involving 15 vehicles around 5:45 a.m., according to a news release from the Manchester Fire Department.

Crews found a seven-vehicle accident on I-93 north, just south of the Interstate 293 split.

A woman freed from a vehicle was taken to Elliot Hospital with a life-threatening head injury, authorities said.

“While caring for this victim, a pickup truck attempted to drive through the emergency scene at an unreasonable rate of speed, lost control and struck an adjacent guardrail,” according to the fire department. “After hitting the guardrail, the truck hit Engine 3 and slid into two vehicles previously involved in the incident.”

A member of Engine 3 was alerted by a crewmate of the oncoming vehicle and was able to narrowly avoid being struck. That crewmember, however, was struck by a vehicle and tumbled onto the roadway.

The firefighter, taken to Elliot Hospital by ambulance, was treated for soft tissue injuries to his hip and knee and released, the fire department said.

Falling precipitation slicked up the interstate.

“The mist was freezing on the roads,” said Department of Transportation spokesman Richard Arcand. “Though crews were out at 3 a.m., they still were trying to catch up with it.”

Another Manchester accident on I-93 southbound closed the road for about an hour, due to crashes involving about six vehicles, including a box truck that went over the guardrail, Legace said in an email.

Arcand said it happened near Stevens Pond north of the Route 101 split.

I-93 southbound also was shut down in the Tilton-Sanbornton area for about an hour due to crashes involving multiple vehicles and an overturned tractor-trailer.

And the right lane of I-93 northbound at Exit 22 in Sanbornton was closed at mid-morning.