125 Evacuated After Chemical Truck Tips Over

About 125 people were evacuated from homes, motels and businesses near the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Vine Street Tuesday after a truck overturned, spilling its cargo of chemicals onto the roadway and releasing what officials feared were potentially hazardous fumes.

The driver of the truck, who was not immediately identified, and five other persons were taken to Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, where they were released after treatment for what hospital and Fire Department officials described as “sore throats” apparently from the inhalation of chemical fumes and “minor injuries.”

The 6300 block of Franklin Avenue and a nearby Hollywood Freeway off-ramp were closed to traffic shortly after the 1 p.m. spill and remained closed into the night as a private chemical cleanup crew worked to remove the chemicals.

A Fire Department spokesman said about 50 people were evacuated, most of them from a nearby motel. But Red Cross officials said they expected to feed dinner to about 125 people in an evacuation center set up in the Hollywood YMCA.

A decision on whether to house the evacuees overnight at the YMCA was expected to be made later in the evening, a Red Cross spokeswoman said.

The truck, whose driver said he lost his brakes as he came down the Vine Street off-ramp from the northbound Hollywood Freeway and hit three parked cars, was carrying several different chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide, paint thinner and caustic soda.