Truck driver dies in fiery tanker wreck in far north Dallas
By Brad Conaway at WFAA News, Dallas Fort Worth
The Dallas North Tollway ramp to eastbound President George Bush Turnpike will be closed for an undetermined amount of time due to a major tanker truck fire early Friday morning. The fuel truck struck a concrete barrier and overturned at 12:16 a.m., resulting in a massive explosion and fire as the flammable liquid escaped from the ruptured tank.
Dallas Fire-Rescue said flames from the burning fuel spread for up to 200 yards along the ramp. Firefighters found the driver of the Coastal Transport vehicle dead inside the cab of the truck. The name of the driver was not released, and no other injuries were reported.
As of now the driver and the name of the company are still undetermined due to the severity of the fire.
The cause of the crash is under investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The accident snarled morning rush hour traffic at the busy intersection. Residents at the Gramercy Oaks apartments at the southeast corner of the interchange were evacuated as a precaution during the fire. There was also a power outage in part of the area.
Photos of fire.
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By Bill Miller in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
A truck driver died early Friday in a fiery explosion when a tractor-trailer hauling diesel fuel overturned in far north Dallas, officials said. Flames as high as 150 yards were reported by Dallas firefighters when they arrived at the wreck, about 12:20 a.m. near the intersection of the North Dallas Tollway and the President George Bush Turnpike. The area is near the city limits shared with Plano.
The driver, whose name was not immediately available, had been northbound on the tollway, before exiting to go east on the turnpike, said Jason Evans, spokesman for Dallas Fire-Rescue.
“While exiting, the driver began to lose control of his vehicle, causing it to tip over onto its left side and strike a concrete barrier,” Evans said in a news release, “That impact was enough to rupture the fuel tank, spilling and igniting the fuel as it spread across the highway.
“When firefighters arrived they could see flames the length of 150-200 yards spreading along a Dallas North Tollway exit ramp.”
They called for more help, including the hazardous materials teams from Dallas and Plano. Firefighters worked to keep the flames from spreading to a nearby apartment complex, and the flames were extinguished at 2:07 a.m., Evans said.
“There were no injuries to any firefighters,” he said. “But, unfortunately, the driver of the truck was not able to escape from the vehicle.”
About This Post
PLEASE GOOGLE “DEFORMABLE KINGPIN” that explains a simple to understand solution to forbid a tractor to follow into destruction during rollover events. The concept is the same as to why you have fuses or circuit breakers in electrical systems in your home, office or car — a failsafe — to prevent further destruction. This innovation is a simple modification of a component, the trailer’s coupling kingpin, whose design has been a standard for over 70 years, which can be made to deform and not allow an extremely stable tractor to follow to destruction when the trailer, that is the dominant controlling force, is in IMMINENT peril for rollover, that includes also blown over tractor trailers. The NHTSA & FMCSA continue to turn their backs and ignore their past funded research conclusions, as the trucking industry evolves greater unstable tractor trailers on our highways that have a primary attribute for increasing payload capacity. These catastrophes will continue to occur in thousands of accidents of this type each year as they have in the past, and continue to cause infrastructure damage that will harm and kill many hundreds of tractor occupants annually. These combination vehicles are incendiary bombs when carrying flammable material in tankers, and the flash point for these fires starts with the tractor’s involvement. A statement received from the FMCSA states “There are a variety of technologies for preventing rollover crashes and we believe motor carriers should have as much flexibility as possible in selecting technologies to prevent crashes.” Clearly the fox is allowed to guard the hen house!!! The harm, death & destruction will continue with combination vehicle rollover accidents. Donald J. Kaleta