Thursday, June 03, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Truck overturns, dumping carpet glue on I-15
Spill forces Highway Patrol to shut down
northbound lanes of highway near Mesquite
By FRANK CURRERI
REVIEW-JOURNAL
A semi-truck sits on its side after it flipped when the driver fell asleep at the wheel about 2:15 a.m. Wednesday on I-15.
Photo by K.M. Cannon.
|
A trucker hauling about 1,000 gallons of glue crashed early Wednesday morning, causing a sticky spill that forced authorities to close a stretch of Interstate 15 near Mesquite.
About 20 members of a hazardous materials team used shovels during the clean-up to free the semi-truck, stuck to the pavement about three inches deep in carpet glue, said Angie Wolff, Nevada Highway Patrol spokeswoman.
Aiming to reopen the highway by 10 p.m., workers were toiling at the accident site, about 10 miles south of Mesquite, through early evening.
The truck's driver fell asleep behind the wheel about 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, and then his rig struck a hillside and flipped, Wolff said.
"He's fine," Wolff said of the driver. "He's really feeling bad about falling asleep. He's lucky he's alive."
Wolff said authorities cited the driver for failure to maintain his lane and also will bill his company for the cost of the clean-up.
Not long after the accident, four semi-trucks managed to navigate around the mess, officials said. But authorities quickly sealed off the northbound lanes, not only because the roadway was full of wreckage, but also because prolonged breathing of the carpet glue could damage people's lungs, Wolff said.
Many hazmat workers wore protective white uniforms in the June heat as they collected the gooey matter and stuffed it into five-gallon containers.
Northbound motorists were rerouted from I-15 to state Route 170 through Bunkerville and then back onto I-15.
