ST. CHARLES • Interstate 70 was shut down in both directions for nearly 20 minutes late Friday morning after a crash and fire involving a gasoline tanker and a Missouri Department of Transportation truck.
The interstate was closed between Zumbehl Road and Highway 94 from 11:25 to about 11:45 while hazmat crews cleared the scene, authorities said. Some lanes remained closed into the afternoon.
Capt. Dan Casey of the St. Charles Fire Department said the tractor trailer hit the large, yellow MoDOT truck on westbound I-70 about 11:15 a.m. The semi's cab caught fire, he said, but flames did not spread to the trailer.
The Missouri Highway Patrol said the driver of the MoDOT truck, Brian M. Heintzelman, 39, of Winfield, was taken to a hospital with a minor injury.
Tom Blair, MoDOT assistant district engineer, said the truck was part of a MoDOT work crew that was moving along the interstate repairing potholes.
Such crews typically have at least one truck with repair material followed by another truck positioned to protect the working truck, he said. The protecting truck was the one that was hit.
Cpl. Jeff Wilson of the Missouri Highway Patrol said the tanker truck ran into the MoDOT truck when it could not stop after cresting a hill.
The tanker pushed the MoDOT truck into another lane and the tanker ran into a median wall, Wilson said.
He said the tanker was filled with 8,500 gallons of diesel fuel.
While I-70 traffic began moving again around 11:45, some lanes on each side of the interstate were still closed as late as 1:30.
Around 2:00, all westbound lanes again were shut down as a precaution while fuel was being taken off the tanker. About 3:45, some westbound lanes were reopened.
Blair said the incident again underscores the need for motorists to look out for work crews. He said the crew was preceded by warning signs.
St. Louis Today
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Friday, April 1, 2011 6:40 p.m.