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Westbound Lanes of Griffin Road Remain Closed After Gas Tanker Crash

Posted on: Friday, 12 May 2006, 15:04 CDT

By Brian Haas, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

May 12--BULLETIN: DANIA BEACH -- Only the westbound lanes of Griffin Road remain closed on Friday morning after a tanker truck rolled over near the Interstate 95 on-ramp on Thursday afternoon, closing both I-95 and Griffin Road, news partner NBC 6 reported.

All lanes of the Florida Turnpike at Sample Road have reopened following a tanker truck crash on Thursday afternoon, NBC 6 reported.

Earlier report follows

Two fuel tankers flipped over in separate crashes Thursday afternoon, spilling thousands of gallons of fuel and closing down Florida's Turnpike and two Interstate 95 ramps during rush hour.

The trouble started about 1:50 p.m. just south of Sample Road in the turnpike's northbound lanes in Pompano Beach. Tanker driver Jerry L. Nixon, 44, of Plantation, tried unsuccessfully to change lanes and clipped a garbage truck, said Lt. Roger Reyes, spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol. The 9,000-gallon tanker fishtailed, jackknifed and toppled over into the grassy median, spilling half of its load.

Rescuers waded knee-deep in gasoline to rescue Nixon and offload the remaining fuel, said Sandra King, spokeswoman for the city.

Firefighters with Pompano Beach Fire-Rescue couldn't use their usual extraction tools to rescue the trapped driver for fear a spark could ignite 1,500 gallons of spilled fuel, "It was quite a tense situation," King said. "But they did it and everyone's safe."

Rescuers finally pulled the driver out of the crippled cab 30 minutes later and rushed him to North Broward Medical Center, King said. The man's injuries were not life-threatening, she said. His identity was not released Thursday.

Nearly five hours after the Pompano Beach crash, another tanker overturned in Dania Beach creating more rush hour mayhem. Griffin Road was closed in both directions at Interstate 95 and all ramps to the highway were blocked.

About 6:15 p.m., a 3,000-gallon truck was entering I-95 northbound at Griffin Road when it hit a curb and flipped, said Jim Leljedal, a Broward Sheriff's Office spokesman.

The turnpike spill shut down the entire highway for about 90 minutes. Troopers reopened southbound lanes about 3:15 p.m., but kept northbound closed for more than five more hours as firefighters hosed the gasoline down with a protective foam and offloaded the remaining fuel into another tanker. Reyes said Nixon will be given a citation for failure to use due care.

Access to and from I-95 at Griffin was blocked through the evening as Dania Beach, Broward County and Sunrise firefighters cleaned up the spill. Officials expected the lanes to reopen in the early morning hours today. Traffic was further snarled Thursday by a crash near Stirling Road on I-95 northbound.

Staff Researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.

Brian Haas can be reached at bhaas@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4597.

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Copyright (c) 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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