LITTLE ROCK — An overturned fuel tanker on Interstate 30 forced Arkansas State Police to close the highway for 10 1/2 hours Friday while the leaking truck was emptied of at least 1,500 gallons of gasoline and the highway was cleared of debris.
The driver of the tanker,Joseph Stephens, 40, of Hot Springs died in the accident, which occurred at 4:22 a.m. in Saline County, state police spokesman Bill Sadler said.
Authorities were still investigating to determine a cause for the one-vehicle accident, Sadler said.
The truck was westbound on I-30, near mile marker106, when the driver apparently lost control, and the rig veered left. The driver then apparently jerked the truck to the right, causing it to overturn. It ended up on its side in the median.
“The immediate concern was trying to get to the driver,” Sadler said. After discovering that he was dead in the cab of the truck, police noticed malfunctioning lights on the vehicle and sparking sounds.
Emergency crews backed off, Sadler said, figuring that it would be best to find out how much fuel was in the tanker before proceeding. After learning that the tanker could hold up to 1,800 gallons, authorities summoned a truck from Texarkana to offload the contents.
Workers also built a retaining wall to contain leaking fuel, Sadler said.
Meanwhile, traffic was diverted off the interstate.
“Highway 67 has been the savior in all this today,” Sadler said.
By 2 p.m., the fuel had been drained from the tanker and the area hosed down. By 3 p.m., traffic was moving again.
The tanker belonged to Central Arkansas Petroleum of Malvern.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 02/26/2011