LOS ANGELES – Over the weekend, a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline flipped over at the 2 and 5 freeways, spilling gasoline that erupted into flames along portions of the freeways and a segment of the Los Angeles River that runs in the area.
Firefighters were quick to respond on the scene. They were deployed along a mile-long stretch of the river to monitor the spill and to contain the blaze. The fire forced closures of segments of the two major thoroughfares all the way through Monday, causing a massive traffic gridlock in the area.
According to officials of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, burning gasoline that spilled from the tanker caused ‘minimal and temporary’ damage to the affected portion of LA River.
Numerous witnesses interviewed by the LA Times said that they saw the river on fire.
However, according to Fish and Wildlife Department Spokesperson Andrew Hughan, only a small amount of fuel actually reached the river.
“A little bit – we’re talking less than five or six gallons – probably escaped into the storm drain and flowed out of the drain into the LA River,” Hughan told the Times.
Hughan also said in the Times report that gasoline burns very quickly in high temperatures, so “virtually all of the fuel was destroyed in the fire.”
In a lucky stroke of events, a nearby sandbar absorbed much of the gasoline that would have otherwise reached the river, Hughan noted.
And considering Saturday’s hot weather, most of the gasoline that went into the sand evaporated quickly, Hughan said.
He said that the department does not intend to dig up the sand because it will be ‘less damaging’ to the environment and will allow the gas to evaporate naturally.
“Nature does an amazing job of cleaning itself,” Hughan said to the Times.
Nevertheless, a cleanup team contracted by the Department arrived on the scene to vacuum any remaining fuel and water, Hughan said.
He added that if the truck had been carrying heavier substances like diesel or oil, the situation would have been much worse because those liquids do not burn the way gasoline does.
(With reports from the LA Times)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek July 17-19, 2013 Sec A pg.1)
