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Overturned tanker closes US 30 in Wayne County

DGKN staff report

PLAIN TWP.  A Wooster man was seriously injured Friday, Sept. 16 at approximately 4:37 a.m. when the commercial semitrailer he was driving overturned.
Troopers from the Wooster Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol were called to US 30 in the area of Elyria Road, west of the city of Wooster.  The trailer was reported to be hauling hazardous materials and was leaking, according to a news release from OSHP. 

Troopers along with emergency responders from the New Pittsburg Fire Department and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office arrived on scene.  The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Wayne County Highway Department were contacted to detour traffic away from the area.  The driver was still in the vehicle but due to the release of hazardous materials, additional HAZMAT mitigation resources were summoned from Richland, Ashland, and Stark Counties.  Due to low visibility, Metro Life Flight Ground was also requested at the scene.

The on-scene investigation revealed the driver, a 49 year old Wooster man, was westbound in a 2018 Freightliner SD122 semi tractor, pulling a fully loaded 2008 Etnyre DOT407 liquid tank trailer.  Just west of the intersection of Elyria Road the truck and trailer traveled into the grass median and overturned.  The load, later determined to be a highly combustible petroleum product, was leaking from the ruptured trailer. Once the driver was extricated from the vehicle he was transported by Metro Life Flight Ground to Akron City Hospital to be treated for serious injuries sustained in the crash.  

The truck and trailer were from H.O.C. Transport / Leasing of Akron.  Representatives from Ohio EPA and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) are also investigating and personnel from H.O.C., HEPACO, and Aber’s Towing are handling vehicle recovery and hazardous material clean-up.

The cause and the events that led up the crash remain under investigation.  

 

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