Rescue Worker’s Cousin Was Victim

Among the emergency personnel attempting to rescue a Thousand Oaks man who died in Saturday’s fiery tanker crash on the Ventura Freeway was his own cousin, according to an ambulance company official.

John Wilson, a supervisor for American Medical Response, said Sunday that one of the paramedics who responded to the 1 p.m. accident was a close relative of 22-year-old Zaki Gordon, who died in the crash that closed the freeway at Lindero Canyon Road in Westlake Village. California Department of Transportation crews reopened the roadway Sunday afternoon.

“He was completely shocked initially,” Wilson said of his employee, Greg Jelin. “I don’t think it really hit him until all the family got together.”

Gordon was driving a Chevrolet Blazer that skidded on wet pavement before colliding with a tanker truck. The Chevron tanker truck consequently slammed into the center divider, spilled thousands of gallons of gasoline and ignited an enormous fire, which took dozens of firefighters to contain.

The night before, Jelin had eaten dinner with Gordon, who had just returned home from his fall semester at Syracuse University in New York.

Working on his first shift as an associate supervisor, the paramedic was part of the crew responding to the accident.

“It’s really kind of your worst nightmare,” said Capt. Lee Heise of the Ventura County Fire Department, who had spoken with Jelin after the crash. “You just may be the person that has to respond to one of your loved ones.”

The flames from the gasoline truck engulfed the cab of the Blazer with Gordon inside. Jelin helped treat his two younger cousins, Gordon’s brothers Yoni , 11, and Adam, 14, who were passengers of the truck but managed to escape before it caught fire.

“He actually held it together very, very well under the circumstances,” Wilson said of his employee. Gordon’s family is tightknit, Wilson added.

Family members could not be reached for comment, but funeral arrangements are underway.

All lanes of the Ventura Freeway reopened at 12:25 p.m. Sunday, after road crews worked to repair the highway that was severely damaged by the fire.

“The freeway is one of the main corridors between Ventura and Los Angeles counties,” said CHP spokesman Frank Sansone . “Luckily, it didn’t happen during rush hour.”

Despite the lengthy closure, delays for Sunday drivers were not heavy. Two eastbound lanes had opened earlier and westbound traffic was detoured for about 15 minutes.

The last time a tanker truck overturned on the Ventura Freeway the effect on traffic was much less devastating. A truck carrying liquid nitrogen was cut off by another vehicle on Dec. 16, 1997, and swerved to avoid a collision. The truck rolled on its side and spilled 6,500 gallons of the inert and harmless chemical, which forced all westbound lanes to be closed for two hours.

CHP officials said that as a result of Saturday’s 9,000-gallon spill, hazardous material crews had to dig up the freeway. Workers then tested the soil beneath the roadbed, determined it was not contaminated and then paved over that portion of the road with fresh asphalt.

Officials also said the impact from the vehicles involved in Saturday’s accident damaged at least 30 feet of the metal guardrail dividing the east and westbound lanes of the Ventura Freeway. Before the westbound freeway was reopened, Caltrans replaced the damaged railing with temporary concrete barriers.

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The accident occurred when Gordon entered the freeway at Lindero Canyon Road. Gordon’s sport utility vehicle was engulfed in flames after the tanker truck’s spilled gasoline ignited and shot flames more than 100 feet into the air.

Despite the efforts of his two younger brothers and an unidentified good Samaritan who attempted to remove him from the truck, Gordon died at the scene.

The brothers were taken to Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, where they were treated and released Saturday evening.

Tanker driver John Legans, 48, of Lancaster was taken to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Woodland Hills, where he was treated and released for cuts and abrasions.

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Times staff writer Andrew Blankstein contributed to this story.