Tank Truck Collision Closes I-5

Evening rush-hour traffic on the Santa Ana Freeway was backed up for miles in both directions Friday after a vehicle collided with a tanker truck, closing the interstate completely at one point.

The freeway was reopened after firefighters confirmed that the tanker was carrying liquid nitrogen--a nontoxic, non-flammable refrigerant--and not nitrogen dioxide, a toxic gas, as a frantic caller had originally reported to authorities.

But by then, traffic had come to a halt, clogging several major arteries in the vicinity of the Laguna Freeway and spilling over into surrounding cities.

The accident occurred around 3 p.m. when a Ford Bronco, traveling south on the Santa Ana Freeway, lost its right rear wheel and careened into the rear of the tanker, California Highway Patrol Officer Angel Johnson said.

The incident occurred near the Laguna Freeway overpass of the Santa Ana Freeway. No injuries were reported.

The collision damaged the tanker’s refrigeration unit used to keep the nitrogen in a liquid state.

After the crash, John Landry, the driver of the tanker, pulled over to the right shoulder and took the routine safety measure of releasing pressure from the tanker.

Spotting a small white cloud, a motorist called the Orange County Fire Department on his cellular phone, frantically reporting that the tanker was leaking toxic nitrogen dioxide, Battalion Chief Steve Whitaker said.

Other motorists also called radio stations, saying that a tanker was leaking toxic fumes on the freeway. Donna Dower, KNX radio’s afternoon traffic and weather reporter, said she received reports that it was “some kind of nitrate leaking out of a tanker.”

“Some people were getting nervous,” she said.

Firefighters closed the freeway between Alton Parkway and the Laguna Freeway. Traffic ground to a halt for several miles in both directions as firefighters attempted to determine whether the chemical was toxic, Johnson said.

The incident also slowed traffic on the San Diego Freeway as CHP officers rerouted traffic to it from the Santa Ana Freeway.

Some motorists attempted to use surface streets to escape the jam, but that tactic only created more congestion.

“It’s a mess for us,” said Irvine Police Lt. Vic Thies. “Everybody’s trying to get out. Our surface streets are congested.”

Johnson said authorities reopened the northbound lanes about 4 p.m. after it was confirmed that the tanker’s load was nontoxic. The southbound lanes were reopened about 10 minutes later after the tanker truck was moved to the Alton Parkway offramp.

Whitaker said the Hazardous Material Response Team which is stationed at the UC Irvine campus rushed to the scene after the report that nitrogen dioxide was involved. “That is in the most-poisonous category,” he said, adding that its effects on the human respiratory system “can be fatal.”

Whitaker said: “It would not have been that dramatic if we knew it was liquid nitrogen. If it was nitrogen dioxide, the clouds of fumes would have impacted people half a mile downwind.

“But nitrogen makes up 80% of the air we breathe. The liquid has to be refrigerated continuously or it’ll expand and explode. It’s basically a giant thermos bottle,” he said of the disabled tanker.

The freeway closure was one of many traffic accidents Friday which kept CHP officers and firefighters busy. Earlier in the day, authorities reported a major pileup on the southbound Costa Mesa Freeway at Katella Avenue, another major accident on the Santa Ana Freeway blocking the fast lane near Sand Canyon Road and an accident on the Riverside Freeway at Beach Boulevard.

Staff writers James Robbins and Don Kelsen contributed to this report.