MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – An overturned fuel truck shut down a portion of Florida's Turnpike on Tuesday morning in Miami-Dade County.
Sky 10 was above the Turnpike extension southbound at Southwest 152nd Street about 9:30 a.m. as the commercial fuel carrier was engulfed in flames.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and an airport rescue truck were at the scene dousing the tanker with foam.
"Basically what we did was we called out our foam truck from Miami Executive Airport, they came in and they knocked out the fire, and we just supplied them with water operations," Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Capt. Paul Blake said.
Northbound lanes were also shut down near Coral Reef Drive and Southwest 117th Avenue, but reopened by about 10 a.m.
"Our responsibility is not only to investigate this accident, which we will, but to open up the roadways as quickly as possible," Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Joe Sanchez said.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials confirmed that the driver got out of the vehicle safely. They said there was about 2,000 gallons of fuel inside the truck when it caught fire, as is indicated by the hazardous materials placard on the tanker.
"They clearly indicate what the vehicle is carrying. We all have manual books in our patrol cars and also in our computer, and we are able to look at it and find out exactly what it is," Sanchez said.
Two southbound lanes were reopened by 11:30 a.m. and all lanes were reopened about six hours after the crash.
"There's no loss of life, just a major inconvenience to the commuters of South Dade," Blake said.
Sanchez said a preliminary investigation indicates that a weight shift on the truck caused the driver to lose control of the half-full fuel tanker. The truck overturned and ignited.