Semi tips over in Cedar City, partially spilling load of diesel fuel

CEDAR CITY — A semitractor truck tipped onto its side while its driver was attempting to make a left turn in Cedar City Saturday afternoon, with the resulting fuel spill expected to take several hours to clean up, authorities said.

The incident reportedly occurred just before 2:30 p.m. at the intersection of 2400 North and state Route 130, on the west side of the overpass at Interstate 15’s Exit 62 interchange. It involved a red Peterbilt semitractor that was pulling a tanker trailer filled with diesel fuel.

Crews work to offload fuel at the scene of a single-vehicle tipover crash involving a semi truck with a load of diesel fuel, Cedar City, Utah, May 9, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Authorities and witnesses at the scene said the driver had been heading northwest on SR-130 and was attempting to turn left on to 2400 North when the entire rig tipped over onto its right side, just past the corner of the intersection.

Cedar City Police Sgt. Nate Williams told Cedar City News that no injuries were reported and that the driver remained at the scene. The driver received a traffic citation for traveling too fast for conditions, Williams said.

At approximately 5:30 p.m., some three hours after the crash, crews were still working on cleaning up the scene, which required a hazmat response. A large truckload of sand was brought in to help keep fuel from running down a nearby hillside and in the curbside gutter to the north. Holes were drilled into the side of the tank so that its remaining cargo that didn’t leak out could be pumped out and offloaded into another tanker.

Cedar City Fire Chief Mike Phillips said at the scene that the cleanup efforts were expected to take another few hours until dark. 

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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