Tanker crash on Turnpike snarls traffic, fills highway with fuel

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Several lanes of Florida’s Turnpike were shut down for hours Friday after a tanker overturned in a crash near Bird Road in Miami-Dade County, spilling fuel in the roadway.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the crash involved four vehicles and took place at approximately 6:15 a.m.

The driver of the tanker was taken to Kendall Regional Medical Center as a trauma alert, FHP Lt. Alex Camacho said.

Miami-Dade’s Department of Environmental Resources Management has been notified of the fuel leak, and county fire rescue officials say it could be up to 8,500 gallons of fuel that were spilled.

An alternate route from the southbound lanes is to exit on Bird Road and head south on Southwest 107th Avenue.

A spokeswoman from the Florida Department of Transportation said cleanup in the area is ongoing and southbound traffic was continuing to be detoured late Friday afternoon. She said northbound lanes have been reopened.

“At this point, it is too early to determine what type of damages the roadway has incurred as a result,” she said.


About the Author:

A South Florida native, Andrea Martinez joined the Local 10 News team as a reporter in April 2021.