Local News in Brief : Train Smashes Truck Stalled at Crossing

A Southern Pacific train broadsided a tractor-trailer truck that had stalled on railroad tracks in Glendale on Sunday, triggering a spill of hazardous materials that forced the closure of a portion of San Fernando Road just south of the Ventura Freeway on-ramp.

The driver of the truck, whose name was not released, escaped unharmed, said Glendale Police Sgt. Karl Ward. No others were injured in the 6:30 p.m. crash at 800 W. Doran Street, near the intersection with San Fernando Road, Ward said.

The train, which was believed to have been carrying oil, collided with the truck, which was carrying paint, paint thinner and roofing materials, and knocked it on its side, Ward said.

Some 15 firefighters and about 10 members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s hazardous materials team were summoned, Ward said.

The truck carried liquid and powder materials marked “dangerous” mostly in boxes and crates, according to Los Angeles County Firefighter Bob Goldman.

The materials spilled on the railroad crossing did not emit toxic fumes or present a threat to people living nearby, and no residents were evacuated, Ward said.

“There didn’t appear to be any reaction occurring between the liquid and the powders,” Goldman said. “It wasn’t fuming or smoking or spreading.”

The accident forced the closure of all lanes on a one-block stretch of San Fernando Road between Doran and Milford streets most of Sunday night while the area was cleaned.