Freeway Closed as Truck Spills Fuel

An overturned tanker truck spilled diesel oil that forced the closure of the Ventura Freeway on Wednesday, detouring traffic onto surface streets for most of the morning, authorities said.

Witnesses reported the tanker hanging over the shoulder of the westbound freeway near Balboa Boulevard at about 4:30 a.m., said Sgt. Ernie Garcia, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

Garcia said no other vehicles were involved in the wreck and the cause of the accident remained under investigation. No one was treated for injuries, said a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Garcia said the tanker spilled about 75 gallons of its diesel fuel on the freeway.

All five lanes were closed at about 4:50 a.m., Garcia said, forcing traffic to exit at Balboa. The two left lanes were opened at about 7:15, he said, after firefighters washed off the fuel.

Those two lanes were closed again half an hour later, however, to allow crews to load the tanker onto a flatbed, Garcia said. The two right lanes were reopened at about 8 a.m. and the other lanes about 10 a.m.