Gasoline Tanker Fire Shuts Freeway
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ANAHEIM — A gasoline tanker overturned and burst into flames Monday night on the rain-slicked Riverside Freeway, shutting down all lanes in both directions and spewing smoke and flames that were visible for 15 miles.
“It is just a huge wall of fire on the highway,” a California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said as the fire raged.
The driver was not hurt, and the fire apparently started when the tanks fell off the truck near the Lakeview Avenue offramp, the CHP spokeswoman said. The fire snarled traffic on the Riverside and Costa Mesa freeways.
The fire was so hot that firefighters had not been able to get close enough to investigate or to beginning battling the flames, she said Monday evening. The fire was allowed to burn on the empty freeway for nearly two hours, until the Orange County Fire Authority could bring in specially equipped airport crash trucks with fire retardant foam.
The accident occurred at 8:11 p.m. when the truck apparently tried to slow down in the rain but jackknifed.
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