Tanker Truck Explodes, Highway 6 Shut Down

KSL NEWS ^ | August 10th, 2005 @ 4:01pm | KSL NEWS

[Ramius]

Wow.

[wyattearp]

He said when the driver was pulled to safety, he warned everyon on the scene that the truck was full of blasting caps and primer cord and everyone should run.

I don't know if it is illegal to ship explosives and blasting caps together in the same shipment, but it certainly isn't very smart.

[PilloryHillary]

Holy crap! That's some crater!!!

[Spktyr]

Driver get signal?

[Mrs.Nooseman]

You beat me to it.

I'll take it you didn't have to evacuate last night and that every thing is in control with the plant explosion.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I've been on that road...that's how I came up from Texas myself the first time...what a crater! That's going to take some work to fix.

[silentknight]

Hmm a truck accident is breaking news? The big detroit explosion at the chem plant was pulled from breaking news. Just curious what makes one story breaking news. It is impossible for people to determine where to place a story anymore.

[Reaganesque]

Man, I remember when the town of Thistle was flooded and abandoned back in the 80's. At least there wasn't a town there to be blown up. Come to think of it, isn't or wasn't there a rocket fuel factory at the mouth of SF Canyon? And wasn't there an explosion there a few years ago?

Mental note: don't buy land in or near Spanish Fork Canyon.

[NerdDad]

That caught my eye almost immediately as well. This article has to be one of the most poorly written pieces of professional journalism I have ever read. The icident is horrific and my prayers go out to those involved. That being said, the writing was so poor that it distracted me from the facts of the story.

[Dog Gone]

I frankly didn't believe the news story as originally posted. Then I went to see the pictures.

[PilloryHillary]

I'll take it you didn't have to evacuate last night and that every thing is in control with the plant explosion.

We didn't have to evacuate, thank goodness. Last I heard this afternoon, the fire was very small and contained. There are still people in the area who aren't allowed to go back to their homes yet. Hopefully, they will be going home soon.

[glock rocks]

Probably on its way to the coal mines. That's one hell of a hole! Thank goodness the driver and all around are safe.

[used2BDem]

WOW! Where is the wreckage of the truck?

[glock rocks]

tiny pieces.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

I ma glad to hear that it is contained and that you were safe.
Praying that thhose poor folks can go back home soon.

[glock rocks]

the writing was so poor that it distracted me from the facts of the story.

Such is the nature of breaking news. KSL is the best breaking news in this area, and they've updated the story. It will continue to be refined. There were more injuries than the first story intimated. My prayers for all involved.

---

Tanker Truck Explodes, Highway 6 Shut Down

August 10th, 2005 @ 5:20pm

Team Coverage

A semi truck carrying nearly 20 tons of explosives crashed and exploded in Spanish Fork Canyon this afternoon. The blast left a huge crater in the road and tore up the railroad tracks that run alongside.

There are at least five injured and the road is closed. And that means long detours for many motorists tonight, trying to find other ways around Spanish Fork Canyon.

The semi apparently loaded up explosives this morning in Spanish Fork and was heading east, out of the state. They were on Highway 6, about 10 miles up from Thistle Junction when something happened, causing the semi to crash and turn over.

Witnesses say other drivers stopped and pulled the driver of the semi outside of his cab just before it exploded. Debris went in all directions, sparking fires on both sides of the canyon. The blast left a huge crater in the road – 30 feet deep and at least 60 feet wide. The blast also caused damage to railroad tracks that run parallel to the highway.

The cars that had pulled over near the accident were also damaged in the blast. It broke the windows of those cars. Several people were transported to the hospital by ground and by helicopter.

The driver of the truck, a man in his early 30's, was flown to the University of Utah medical center. He was conscious and talking when he arrived at the ER. Three other people were taken to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo. Two are in critical condition, one satisfactory. Of the two in critical condition, one was in the sleeper cab of the wrecked truck, the other was in another diesel truck nearby. The fifth victim was flown to LDS Hospital. That patient just arrived and is still being evaluated by the trauma team.

Highway 6 is a two-lane highway and a major artery to the southeastern part of the state. It will be closed for quite some time as the blast completely destroyed a portion of the road, including the supporting material.

A robot from the Utah County Sheriff's office is being sent to the scene to figure out how to safely deal with about 60 pounds of explosives that have not yet exploded. It is a powerful explosive material, obviously.

Mark Carlton, Witness: "We were just sitting there waiting for someone to come fix our tire about 2:00 or so, and heard a loud explosion. A big old crater in the road, blown out tracks, sent shrapnel over the mountainside and everything."

Kirby Glad, Witness: "When the truck blew it pretty much diminished the entire truck. There is probably just an axle left. You could see the engine block over off on the side of the road and smoldering pieces of the truck were up, probably as high as 40 feet up the side of the hill. It left about a 35 foot crater in the road and took out the railroad tracks next to the road. About ten cars had their windshields forced in or completely blown out."

Some of that shrapnel that landed on the mountainside is still causing smoke and fire. The forest service is sending in an aircraft to start putting out those smoldering spots to prevent a wildfire from breaking out.

This accident is causing a traffic disaster tonight for many drivers. There is no doubt the highway will have to be completely reconstructed. UDOT is still waiting to get their crews onto the scene to assess the damage, and expect it will be a matter of hours before they can get into there. They say it will be a significant fix once repairs can begin.

If you're headed from Moab to Price and on to Helper, take I-15 to I-70 East.

If you're traveling North from Price, take US Highway 191 through Indian Canyon, from there to US 40, on to Duchesne.

Union Pacific is also waiting to assess damage to their railroad tracks.

[used2BDem]

LOL!!

[Conservative Infidel]

Wow!! I sure hope that this isn't the test run of something else...

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Saw this on the TV after work. The crater is 30 feet deep and 75 feet wide. The explosion also buckled adjacent railroad tracks. On channel 2, they were interviewing a guy who got blown off his motorcycle and, amazingly, only got some bumps and bruises.

[RightWhale]

When the truck blew it pretty much diminished the entire truck

That truck was diminished about as much as the one that blew up in OKC. Diminish, diminish. Sure, why not.