Local News in Brief : Asphalt Spill Closes 6 Ventura Freeway Lanes

Six lanes of the Ventura Freeway in Calabasas were closed more than four hours Monday night and early Tuesday after a tractor truck with two trailers turned over and dumped 25 tons of hot asphalt across the freeway, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Officer Jim Young said the truck was heading westbound in a light rain about 10:40 p.m. Monday when the driver attempted to apply the brakes on a downgrade near Parkway Calabasas.

Young said the truck went out of control on the slick pavement and swerved across all four lanes before hitting the concrete center divider. One trailer dumped its load across all four westbound lanes while the other went over the divider and dumped the asphalt on two eastbound lanes, he said.

No other vehicles were hit. The truck’s fuel tank ruptured and burst into flames, which were extinguished by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Young said.

The truck driver, David S. Tuey, 39, of Fresno suffered only minor injuries in the accident and was treated and released from Westlake Community Hospital, he said.

The asphalt spill was removed by Caltrans crews, and the westbound lanes of the freeway were reopened about 3 a.m. Tuesday. Cleanup in the two eastbound lanes was not completed until 5 a.m., Young said.