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Toxic Leak Caused By Semi Collision
POSTED: 11:54 a.m. EDT July 8, 2003
UPDATED: 12:21 p.m. EDT July 8, 2003
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Rescuers worked for hours to get a truck driver out of his truck. Potential danger from toxic fumes made the rescue even more difficult. Trucks Collide And Toxic Leak Forces Evacuations
Two semis crashed on Taft Vineland road near Orange Blossom Trail. Acid leaked from one of the trucks and slowed down the rescue process.
Little remains of a box truck that was headed down Taft-Vineland just after 8 o 'clock this morning, just twisted metal and broken glass. The person inside was severely injured and trapped for nearly two hours.
The semi driven by 28-year-old Franklin Diaz from Hialeah pulled out into the road after leaving a chemical company. To add to the situation, both the semi and the box truck were carrying deadly chemicals, ten gallons of hypochloric acid spilled all over road.
Firefighters responded but had to approach the situation very carefully.
"When you add that you've had a chemical spill and have chemicals that have been released, you have to look at dress time, identifying the product. Those things add time to this," explains Bill Murphy, Orange Co. Fire Rescue.
Two hours later, the person in the box truck was freed. The semi driver was cited for not yielding the right of way and he was driving with an expired driver's license.
A couple of small businesses had to be evacuated while the chemicals were cleaned up. As for the firefighters, one suffered heat exhaustion and the others will have to take extra steps for their own safety.
"The command was given that anyone on this scene has to decontaminate their clothes," says Murphy.
Firefighters say it's a good thing this happened on such an isolated road, because just inhaling these chemicals could've been deadly.
Copyright 2003 by WFTV.com. All rights reserved.
POSTED: 11:54 a.m. EDT July 8, 2003
UPDATED: 12:21 p.m. EDT July 8, 2003
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Rescuers worked for hours to get a truck driver out of his truck. Potential danger from toxic fumes made the rescue even more difficult. Trucks Collide And Toxic Leak Forces Evacuations
Two semis crashed on Taft Vineland road near Orange Blossom Trail. Acid leaked from one of the trucks and slowed down the rescue process.
Little remains of a box truck that was headed down Taft-Vineland just after 8 o 'clock this morning, just twisted metal and broken glass. The person inside was severely injured and trapped for nearly two hours.
The semi driven by 28-year-old Franklin Diaz from Hialeah pulled out into the road after leaving a chemical company. To add to the situation, both the semi and the box truck were carrying deadly chemicals, ten gallons of hypochloric acid spilled all over road.
Firefighters responded but had to approach the situation very carefully.
"When you add that you've had a chemical spill and have chemicals that have been released, you have to look at dress time, identifying the product. Those things add time to this," explains Bill Murphy, Orange Co. Fire Rescue.
Two hours later, the person in the box truck was freed. The semi driver was cited for not yielding the right of way and he was driving with an expired driver's license.
A couple of small businesses had to be evacuated while the chemicals were cleaned up. As for the firefighters, one suffered heat exhaustion and the others will have to take extra steps for their own safety.
"The command was given that anyone on this scene has to decontaminate their clothes," says Murphy.
Firefighters say it's a good thing this happened on such an isolated road, because just inhaling these chemicals could've been deadly.
Copyright 2003 by WFTV.com. All rights reserved.
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