THOUSAND OAKS : Driver Killed When Tanker Turns Over

The driver of a tanker truck carrying gasoline was killed and four families were evacuated from a Thousand Oaks neighborhood when the vehicle rolled down a hillside and came to rest three feet from a house.

“It sounded and felt like an earthquake,” said Debbie Knell, as she clutched her two dogs and stood behind the yellow tape strung across 2900 block of Foothill Drive. About 200 feet away, the Valley Fuel Supply truck lay upside down about three feet from her house, leaking nearly 100 gallons of gasoline into the gutters.

Ventura County Deputy Coroner Jim Wingate identified the driver of the truck as Pierre Good, 35, of Ventura. Good was pinned under the truck in the 2:10 p.m. accident, authorities said.

“Either he was partially ejected or tried to jump out,” said Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Will Howe.

Witnesses said the 2,000-gallon truck was climbing a steep, winding driveway to refuel several pieces of heavy equipment parked in a construction company yard. A car was coming down the driveway at the same time, forcing the gasoline truck to back down the hill, the witnesses said.

Apparently, the truck’s left wheels ran off the driveway and up the side of the hill, tipping the truck, said Howe. The truck rolled over the driveway, down a 50-foot embankment and came to rest on Foothill Drive near Manzanita Lane.

“We heard, boom, boom, boom,” resident Carmelita Hernandez said.

Jacoby Martin was driving on Foothill Drive when he came upon the truck immediately after it rolled. He and another man tried unsuccessfully to lift the truck with an automobile jack.

The truck was carrying 450 gallons of gasoline, authorities said. No other injuries were reported.