Saturday, March 21, 2015

BOOM TRUCK FLIPPED TO ITS SIDE ON I-25 IN FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, SPILLING UP TO 200 GALLONS OF FUEL







MARCH 20, 2015

FORT COLLINS, COLORADO

Headaches, frustration and sheer boredom ushered in the first day of spring for thousands of motorists in and around Fort Collins on Friday.

A boom truck flipped onto its left side about 11:30 a.m. Friday between Prospect and Harmony roads in the southbound lanes on Interstate 25 after apparently clipping a white Nissan pickup truck, said CSP Cpl. Wayne Nichols at the scene. The truck blocked both lanes of the highway, and somewhere between 50 and 200 gallons of fluids from the truck's crane system and gas tank poured onto the highway.

Hazardous materials crews from Poudre Fire Authority, the Colorado Department of Transportation and CSP worked through the afternoon to sop up and clear the sludge of diesel fuel and hydraulic fluids that spread about a mile to the south by vehicles that drove on after the wreck.

No serious injuries were reported.

An already heavy Friday commute spiraled out of control as the afternoon wore on. Some drivers were routed around the crash, but backups left many sitting — or standing — on the concrete with no clear exit plan. At one point, traffic was at a standstill past Vine Drive, and vehicles were bumper-to-bumper along Mulberry Street and Prospect and Harmony roads long into the afternoon.

I-25 was reopened at about 6:20 p.m.