Tanker Truck Explosion/Accident I-95 South of Baltimore

WJZ Channel 13, Baltimmore | 01/13/2004 | Orbiting_Rosie's_Head

[Orbiting_Rosie's_Head]

Large tanker truck accident and fire on I-95 at the intersection of I-195 near BWI airport. Highway is on fire, lots of wreckage from other trucks and cars.

[Hatteras]

The guy driving this truck was the lone survivor...

[bvw]

Drive it after 10 pm and before 5 am. It's okay. Just watch for the tractor trailer rigs parted alongside all the rest areas.

[bvw]

Hard to tell what that is.

[Petronski]

Thanks for the reply. I recall discussion of it regarding the thread that maxed out, but apparently I misrecall talk of raising that limit. Regards.

[Hatteras]

More pics here: Baltimore Sun Pics

[gathersnomoss]

I guess the benefits just aren't enough anymore.

[cogitator]

Maybe you are thinking about the one that happened below one of the bridges on the Beltway to I-270 spur, in Bethesda? It torched that bridge very well.

When that one first happened, they said that it had the potential to shut down the Beltway and one of the two I-95 routes over the Potomac; fortunately the structural damage wasn't as bad as first feared.

The accident got talked about in Frederick because of the potential for trucks to be forced onto alternate routes, such as regular highways instead of the interstate.

[GreyWolf]

As of 6:00 AM this morning it was five (speculativly one driver in each of five vehicles according to Maryland State Police spokesman). At this point, they are having trouble identifying the vehicles since everything (tags, motor vehicle id, etc) melted. They don't even know which companies the trucks were from or what they were hauling. They will probably have to trace engine block serial numbers back to the manufacturer then work back from there. As for the victims, their origins and destinations could be anywhere on the eastern seaboard and I don't think this recieved much national coverage so it could be several days before these people are missed. Even at this, I doubt there was much left for DNA analysis considering the high temperatures of the explosion and fire.

They still are not close to determining the cause. I live about two miles from the scene and I suspect that the tanker truck came across the entrance (which is slightly curved) too fast and hit the guard rail. Since there was no holes in the overpass, he must have gone over the top exactly into the northbound traffic of I-95 below. Apparantly (as bad luck would have it) he landed on top of a loaded propane tanker causing the explosion.

I agree with you that it could have been a LOT, LOT, worse.

[Henchman]

The guy with a cell phone may have caused the accident.