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Truck Spills 200 Gallons of Diesel, Closing Street

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A truck with a ruptured fuel tank spilled about 200 gallons of diesel on a drive through Burbank on Sunday, forcing the closure of one street for an hour and diverting traffic at five other intersections, Burbank police said.

The driver of the tractor-trailer--Joe Caldron, 50, who works for Smart & Final in Vernon--was cited by the Burbank Fire Department for violating a city ordinance against dumping hazardous materials on the street, said Burbank Police Lt. Don Brown.

An eighth of a mile of Edison Boulevard, between Burbank Boulevard and Hollywood Way, was closed for an hour starting about 5:45 p.m. so firefighters and city street workers could clean up the mess, Brown said.

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Police also had to close one lane at five Burbank Boulevard intersections between Edison and the onramp for the Golden State Freeway, a distance of 2 1/2 miles. A lane on the onramp also had to be closed.

The spill started at the parking lot of a Smart & Final store at Burbank and Edison when Caldron drove the truck over a broken concrete divider. A metal rod in the concrete punctured one of the fuel tanks in his truck, Brown said.

Caldron then decided to drive to his company’s Vernon facility to get a new truck, spilling fuel on the way. But the ruptured tank apparently ran out of fuel after the truck reached the freeway, Brown said.

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