HOUSTON – A fiery wreck involving an overturned 18-wheeler tanker truck injured two people and created a traffic mess just after 9 p.m. Friday on the North Sam Houston Tollway at Antoine, the Harris County Sheriff’s office said.
Witnesses said the tanker truck was headed westbound on the beltway’s service road when a car ran a red light, striking the van and tanker’s trailer, causing the tanker to turn over.
Houston TranStar video showed the massive fire spread as some of the truck's fuel spilled onto the road and into the sewer system.
“The 18-wheeler happened to have been full of gasoline, obviously you can tell that it has been turned over, at this point nobody can come near it due to the flames,” Harris County Deputy Janie Wagner Harris said.
The massive fire burned for over an hour before firefighters were able to fully extinguish the blaze.
The driver of the van was transported to Willowbrook Methodist Hospital and the driver of the car was taken to Houston Northwest Hospital, officials said. Both were listed in stable condition. The tanker truck’s driver was OK and remained at the scene after the wreck.
All of the tollway’s eastbound lanes were open Friday night, but both service roads were closed in both directions, officials said. The westbound tollway lanes on the right side and shoulder were also blocked and the tolls on the westbound toll road were being waived because traffic was being forced onto the tollroad.
