Brakes Went Out : Tanker of Hot Oil Flips, Pins Driver in Car

A Woodland Hills woman escaped serious injury Tuesday after a tanker truck filled with hot paving oil lost its brakes and overturned onto her car, crushing it.

More than 30 Los Angeles Fire Department rescue workers, fearful of rupturing the truck’s 1,400-gallon tank, worked for 35 minutes to free Sandra Gaytan using a tow truck and air bags, fire officials said.

“If the tank ruptured, it would have filled up the car with hot oil,” said Harry Rich, a Fire Department district commander who assisted in the rescue at Oxnard Street and Winnetka Avenue in Woodland Hills. “That would have been devastating.”

Rescue workers could not reach Gaytan until the 5-ton tank was lifted and the roof of her compact car was cut off, Rich said. One firefighter was assigned to talk to Gaytan and reassure her during the rescue, he said.

“She was very distraught and wanted the hell out of there,” Rich said.

Gaytan, 20, suffered minor injuries in the collision and from several drops of hot oil that spilled on her, hospital and fire officials said. She was treated at Northridge Hospital Medical Center and released, a hospital spokesman said.

The driver of the truck, Jose Gaeta, 21, was cited for driving with a suspended license, driving a truck with faulty brakes and running a red light, Officer Steve Dell said. Gaeta, who drove the truck for Mission Paving & Sealing, told police that he had noticed a problem with his brakes while driving on the Ventura Freeway and then lost them completely while driving north on Winnetka, Dell said.

A car driven by Vera DeSilva of Woodland Hills was also hit by the truck. DeSilva, 48, was treated for minor injuries and released from Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Woodland Hills, a hospital spokeswoman said. Both women were driving east on Oxnard when they were hit by the truck shortly before 9 a.m., police said.

Andy Andrews, president of Mission Paving & Sealing, said paving oil is used to seal newly laid asphalt. He said the oil is heated to 125 degrees so that it sticks to the asphalt.

Andrews said Gaeta has been driving trucks for the company for 4 years. He said he did not know Gaeta’s license had been suspended.