Gasoline Spill Forces Many From Homes

A tanker truck carrying gasoline overturned Thursday afternoon in Southeast San Diego, spilling about 500 gallons onto a street and triggering the evacuation of hundreds of residents from nearby homes.

About 75 San Diego firefighters, scores of police officers and at least 10 fire trucks responded about 3:15 p.m. to the three-alarm accident on Ocean View Boulevard near 33rd Street and Interstate 15. The accident drew hundreds of onlookers and shut down the southbound lanes of the interstate for more than two hours while officials transferred the tanker’s fuel to another vehicle.

Many of the bystanders were residents of the apartment buildings and small houses that line Ocean View and 33rd Street and who were ordered out of their homes by officials shortly after the accident.

Driver Unhurt

The driver of the Armour Oil Co. tanker, Rolland Upson, was not hurt, and no one else was either, officials said.

The vehicle, which had turned north onto Ocean View from I-15, lay sprawled on its right side on the sidewalk as officials cleaned up the spill.

About 500 gallons of the 8,800 gallons in the tanker immediately gushed about 200 yards down the street, trickling down an embankment overlooking the southbound lanes of the freeway, authorities said.

After roping off the area and evacuating residents in a three-block radius, firefighters plugged the tanker’s leak to slow the spill to 1 to 2 gallons a minute, according to Capt. Larry Cooke, a Fire Department spokesman. Officials then sprayed the truck with foam and built a small earthen dam reaching halfway across Ocean View to prevent the gas from traveling farther.

“The accident is quite severe, quite hazardous,” Cooke said as officials prepared to transfer the remaining fuel in the tanker to nearby trucks. “The potential of that amount of gasoline is awesome. It could be nasty.”

Uncertain of Cause

Authorities were uncertain Thursday evening what caused the truck to overturn and expected to complete their investigation today.

Officials, fearful that the tanker could explode or catch fire during the transfer of fuel, kept the neighborhood blocked off until after 9 p.m.

Explaining that spills such as Thursday’s are commonplace, Cooke added: “Usually, you have fires to go along with it, and lose a lot of lives. We’re just lucky it didn’t explode.”

Some evacuated residents, however, said they were anxious to return to their homes.

“I didn’t think it was that serious,” said Lucy Tauese, 19, a former student who, along with her four nieces and nephews, had been waiting for hours behind a police blockade.

“I just heard the thing fall, and, when we came out to see it, they told us to evacuate our apartments.”