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4,000 Gallons Of Jet Fuel Ignites When Speeding Tanker Overturns

On Wednesday night a fuel tanker holding 4,000 gallons of jet fuel overturned when hitting a guardrail in Indianapolis. The fuel trickled down either side of a highway overpass and ignited, throwing the whole bridge and surrounding areas into flames. The incident happened at the junction between I-465 and I-70.

The driver managed to get himself free and out of the truck, but unfortunately, his clothes ignited so has been taken to a local hospital in critical condition. Thankfully no one else was injured, and no other vehicles were involved in the incident.

Due to there being no fire hydrants at the scene, the local fire department deployed twenty units to combat the raging flames. This included three tankers and a hazardous materials team. Despite this, it still took over 40 minutes for them to contain the blaze.

Before the bridge is opened again, engineers from the DOT will have to launch a full investigation as to what damage the fire did to the integrity of the bridge and the surface of the asphalt. This could take some time before the area is cleared for normal use.

NBC News reports that investigators at the scene believe that the truck was travelling at an unsafe speed, which caused the accident. We just hope the driver involved has a swift and easy recovery.

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