I-5 Is Closed After Propane Truck Crashes
The Golden State Freeway was closed for about two hours Friday near Gorman when the driver of a propane truck fell asleep at the wheel, causing his trailer to overturn, the California Highway Patrol said.
John Zimmerman, 50, who had fallen asleep while driving a tanker north, woke up and swerved to avoid hitting another truck near Gorman School Road, said CHP Officer George Plesa. The tank overturned, blocking three lanes.
No one was hurt and the tank, which was empty, did not rupture. But as a precaution Plesa ordered the freeway closed in both directions about noon.
“It didn’t matter whether the trailer was empty or not because a cargo tank is always a threat, especially propane because of the killing distance,” Plesa said. “Even empty, a propane tank is a bomb waiting for somewhere to go off.”
The southbound lanes were reopened at 1:45 p.m. and the northbound lanes at 3:20 p.m., Plesa said. Zimmerman, from Bakersfield, was not cited because there was “no environmental damage,” Plesa said.
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