Tanker Overturns; Traffic Jams Tie Up Santa Clarita

Traffic was gridlocked for much of the day Saturday over a wide area of the Santa Clarita Valley after a tanker truck carrying 8,000 gallons of pressurized gasoline overturned on an on-ramp to the Antelope Valley Freeway.

A three-mile stretch of the freeway and sections of Sierra Highway and San Fernando Road were closed for hours Saturday afternoon and evening after officials, attempting to pump fuel from the downed tanker, discovered that it was leaking.

The truck driver was unhurt, and no injuries were reported. But the Antelope Valley and Golden State freeways were backed up for miles and traffic was at a virtual standstill on numerous surface streets as vehicles detoured from the Antelope Valley Freeway after the early afternoon closures.

“It’s got to be the first time that a whole city of 140,000 people has been closed down by a SigAlert,” said Carl Boyer, a Santa Clarita city councilman, who said traffic was stopped on streets near his home five miles from the accident scene.

“All I can say is, thank goodness it’s Saturday,” he said.

The wreck finally was cleared and the roads reopened about 8:45 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.

After the leaking fuel was discovered and strong gas fumes filled the air, officials drew up a standby evacuation plan for a 1/4-mile area around the wreck but did not implement it. Although the area is sparsely populated, officials estimated that about 1,500 people live or work at businesses within the evacuation zone.

The tanker overturned just after 7 a.m. on the San Fernando Road on-ramp to the southbound Antelope Valley Freeway. Emergency crews erected a dike around the tanker, but the leakage was not detected until about 1 p.m. as fuel was being pumped to a second truck.

Vacuum trucks were called in to suck fuel from the pavement and to unload remaining fuel from the tanker.

After 7 p.m., when as much gas had been removed from the tanker as could be suctioned out, crews began using giant air bags and tow trucks to right the tanker, while laying down fire-retardant foam.

The accident mobilized the state Department of Transportation, the CHP, the county Department of Health Services and sheriff’s officers, along with hazardous-materials specialists, fire engines, a foam truck and about 70 firefighters.

An official with Hurt’s Transportation, owner of the truck, blamed the accident on driver error. Bud Kenneally, a vice president of the firm, said the driver, Allen LeCain, 23, of Bakersfield, turned too wide on the on-ramp and struck the curb with the left front of the truck, which overturned when he turned back too sharply to the right.