One person died after a tanker truck carrying 6,800 gallons of fuel crashed and burst into flames early Sunday morning.
Just before 2 a.m., the truck was northbound on the 2000 block of Northwest 43rd Street when it made a U-turn and crashed into a car, according to a release from Gainesville Fire Rescue .
The crash left Northwest 43rd Street, from Northwest 23rd Avenue and Northwest 16th Boulevard to Northwest 18th Place, closed while crews cleaned up. The roads were still closed as of Sunday afternoon, but Northwest 43rd was open, except for its northbound curbed lane that needs repairing.
Gainesville Fire Rescue, Gainesville Regional Utilities, Alachua County Fire Rescue and Alachua County Sheriff’s Office were at the scene and extinguished the fire. The crash ruptured two of the five fuel compartments and caused a fire to soar hundreds of feet in the air, according to the release.
“The call was very challenging and required power and public safety crews to work quickly and in coordination to mitigate the hazard,” the incident commander, GFR Assistant Chief Joseph Hillhouse, wrote in the release.
Officials were able to control the runoff from the fire to prevent contamination to local waterways, according to the release.
Police did not release the name of the person who died or the type of car involved as of Sunday afternoon.
Photo of the scene.
