ST. LOUIS MISSOURI: TRACTOR -TRAILER EXPLODES ON I-70

St. Louis Post-Disgrace ^

[Recovering_Democrat]

Gasoline tanker explodes on I-70 at Bircher about 7:30 p.m.; all lanes closed.

[Lazamataz]

And I suppose, armed with your internal prejudices, that you hit abuse on it, too.

Man, you've got to stop prejudging the handicapped like that. You won't even let them enjoy a little limelight, so burdened are you with your negative presumptions.

[CARDINALRULES]

Witnesses say the driver didn't have time to get out before it exploded. 1 fatality.

Not listed here yet.

[Peace will be here soon]

Confirmed driver died in the crash. It was not a tanker truck either, just an average truck trailer. Driver hit a broken down car. Not indicated if it was on the side of the road or stuck in a traffic lane.

[woofer]

No I thought of Gephardt, I think that is his district

Nope, too far north and west. It's Lacey Clay's.

Bircher is the exit east of Goodfellow (Old Army Records facility). Union 70 Business Park and to old GM Plant where the Corvette was first made, are right there (south side of I-70), as is my old employer, ABB Power T&D Medium Voltage Transformer Plant. The Salvation Army Flood Relief Warehouse abutted the ABB Plant and was right on the highway.

That's also where the infamous high speed running gunfight was in '93. St. Louis cops fired over a hundred runs at a fleeing vehicle, Perps emptied one 14 round nine mil magazine, no one was injured. Hits on participating vehicles were:

STLPD zero
Perps 9.

[kinghorse]

*pin drops*

[TaxRelief]

armed with your internal prejudices,

Oh dear! I resent resemble that remark!

(Would that be pixel abuse that should have been reported?)

[Graybeard58]

St. Louis has one car stolen about every 45 minutes.

It looks to me like they should put some better locks on that car so it wouldn't be stolen so often.

On a series note, my son is in the 724th transportation co. with the "Stryker Brigade" in Kuwait, they move into Iraq in a few days. My son drives a fuel tanker and as such is one big target.

Nothing that has been posted here offends me in the slightest. If I didn't have a little humor in my life I would go nuts worrying about him.

[stlnative]

Emergency crews are on the scene of a tractor-trailer explosion on I-70 08:56 PM CST on Monday, November 24, 2003
(St. Louis-AP/KMOV) -- Eastbound Interstate 70 has been shut down in St. Louis near Union Boulevard due to a tractor-trailer fire.
KMOV/SkyZoom4 The tractor trailer burst into flames at around 7:30 p.m. on eastbound 70.
Emergency officials are on the scene.

For those of you that do not know the area I-70 has center lanes (Express Lanes) set up from downtown at the arch to Union Blvd. There are actually 3 sets of lanes on this stretch of I-70... The middle set of lanes are open in the morning heading towards downtown (east), then they reverse them (west) in during the evening rush hour... The express lanes end and merge into the regular west bound lanes right pass Union Blvd. Chances are the tanker was on the express and hit a car when he was merging into the regular west bound lanes or a car on the express hit the truck when it was merging into the regular west bound lanes.

They just got done reconstructing this area due to all the accidents that occurred in the past from the merging express lanes in to regular west bound lanes. Once you are on the express lanes you cannot get off it except near the arch or at Union Blvd. During the morning it is open for access for the east bound traffic, in the evening they reverse it and open it for the west bound traffic.

[stlnative]

eastbound 70

I should have read my own post. Since he was headed east bound then the express lanes probably were not open unless the reversed them again because of a sporting event in downtown (Is the Rams in town or the Blues?) - But now I see he hit a stalled car.

I-70 and Union is a bad area due to the express lanes starting (or ending there) - so I just assumed it was confusion on one of the drivers due to the express lanes. It is also a bad neighborhood and is somewhere you don't want to be broken down at night if your not from the rough neighborhood there.

[eastforker]

I am so glad i do not live in that area anymore.Nuf said,I won't start on chester ,sparta, steelville or any other rinky dink randolph county POS bergs.Pease be with you brigette,I'm just ranting about my youth experiances of that god awful place.

[TankerKC]

Don't be silly. How could he possibly have prevented this? Reality check. I'm really tired of folks making wild, unsupportable accusations.

Besides, EVERYONE knows Bill Clinton caused it.

[BriarBey]

Can I be the first to blame this on those horrible muslims that want to destroy everything, or is it too late?


Gosh such a thing would NEVER have crossed my mind!!!

[76834]

FOX finally took a break from their "Michael/Scott/Lacy/Kobe" trance and reported that it was a truck hauling paper.

[Missouri]

I sure hope I didn't offend anyone here. My prays go out to the driver and his family.

Thank your son for serving his country at this time and I wish him luck.

I have an uncle who wrote a book about his WW2 combat experience. He was wounded two times and seen some of the worst things imagineable.

[Missouri]

I've been through that stretch of the highway many times. It is a nightmare.

[Graybeard58]

I am so glad i do not live in that area anymore.Nuf said,I won't start on chester

Now what could you possibly have against Chester, Illinois - home of Popeye The Sailor Man?

[Missouri]

Latest update from the St. Louis Post-dispatch internet site.

Fiery truck crash closes I-70 BY GREG JONSSON AND TODD C. FRANKEL Post-Dispatch 11/24/2003

St. Louis firefighters battle a tractor-trailer that exploded into flames Monday night after apparently hitting a parked vehicle at eastbound Interstate 70 and Bircher Avenue. (Andrew Cutraro/P-D)

A fiery tractor-trailer crash closed Interstate 70 at Union Boulevard in St. Louis for several hours Monday night, with authorities expecting to reopen the eastbound lanes in time for today's morning rush hour.

The truck struck an abandoned vehicle parked on the eastbound interstate shoulder just before the Union Boulevard overpass at about 7:30 p.m., St. Louis Fire spokeswoman Kim Bacon said. The truck then lost control and struck a bridge pillar, leading to several powerful explosions.

The truck appeared to be hauling paper and office products, Bacon said. Flames and fire quickly consumed the vehicle.

"You can't even tell it's a tractor trailer," said a firefighter watching the smoldering wreckage.

A person believed to be the truck driver was found dead at the scene.

Fire officials did not identify the truck driver or the truck's owner. The cab was reduced to rubble, the trailer a burnt frame, and paper and boxes were strewn across the road.

"It's going to be very hard to identify it because there's not much left of it," Bacon said.

The abandoned car struck by the tractor trailer was seen parked on the highway shoulder at 5 a.m. Monday, said Don Houston, who drives I-70 daily. "A few people were swerving to avoid hitting it this morning."

The truck explosions, which occurred near the entrance to the eastbound express lanes, were heard from blocks away.

"I heard boom, boom, boom," said Tito Meadows, 57, who was at home watching TV Monday night. "I thought it was a gas line at first."

[eastforker]

Well,if you know Chester then you know what I mean.Home of some of the most corrupt LE in the state.Shall I go on or will you just agree. If you refute please let me know.

[Graybeard58]

I don't know much about Chester. I have been through there several times. They have a big prison there but it seems like a nice little town.

From Chester to the south along Il. hwy. 3 is duck hunting country.

[ladyinred]

Good idea, but don't you think it would benefit us the most if we employ the apparatus of this committee to launch the investigation just prior to the Presidential 2004 election?

Very funny Laz! You are quick on the uptake. You and Chad should take your act on the road!