Fuel tanker crash on I-205 snarls soggy morning commute
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PORTLAND, Ore. - A crash involving an overturned tanker truck hauling hundreds of gallons of fuel shut down the southbound lanes of I-205 across the Glen Jackson Bridge early Monday morning, slowing an already soggy trip into the Portland area for thousands of commuters.
Portland Fire and Rescue said a "small amount" of fuel was leaking from the tanks used to fuel the truck but said the tanker portion of the truck, which held close to 1,500 gallons of fuel, remained intact.
The driver of the truck was not hurt and no other vehicles were involved, firefighters said.
The accident took place at about 4:15 a.m. near the NE Airport Way exit off the southbound lanes and all the lanes were closed while crews worked to assess the crash and right the tanker.
Drivers were detoured off the highway at the Airport Way exit and were able to rejoin the freeway using the on-ramp that leads from the Portland International Airport.
Crews worked in pouring rain to right the overturned rig and had several lanes back open by 7 a.m. but a long backup snaked back into Vancouver, Wash.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Probably some idiot cut off the trucker thinking that big rigs can stop on a dime. Glad no one was hurt.
Maybe the driver was going a bit too fast on the bridge, hydroplaned, hit the barrier just right and overturned? This will be interesting to find out. Glad it wasn't a massive fuel spill. That would have sucked cleaning it up.
How did he do that?
oops!