Trucker expected to survive fuel tanker fire and explosion

Published on March 17th, 2020 by Ashley

Arizona authorities say that a truck driver was hurt but is expected to survive a major fuel tanker truck explosion on Monday.

The crash occurred around 8 p.m. on Monday night on eastbound I-40 in Flagstaff, Arizona.

I-40 Fire Looked Much Worse than it Turned Out to Be
A tanker truck fire on I-40 brought flames visible throughout Flagstaff Monday night. The blaze briefly closed the eastbound lanes of I-40 at the Butler exit. NAZ Today's Aaron Vitatoe shot this powerful video.

Posted by NAZ Today on Monday, March 16, 2020

Witness Loren Graves told local news outlet KNAU that the tanker didn’t slow as it approached an I-40 off-ramp at Butler Avenue. The truck then reportedly overturned as it failed to make a turn at the bottom of the ramp.

The incident resulted in a massive fire and explosion.

Tanker crashes, catches fire near I-40 in #Flagstaff https://t.co/MeLbFn74CI pic.twitter.com/Qu0tReZJhs

— azfamily 3TV CBS 5 (@azfamily) March 17, 2020

Flagstaff police say that the truck driver suffered injuries in the crash but is expected to survive. No one else was hurt.

The crash resulted in heavy traffic delays, but all lanes of eastbound I-40 have since reopened.

*CLOSURE* *PLEASE SHARE*

Once again, I-40 is CLOSED eastbound at Butler Ave in Flagstaff due to a vehicle fire.

All traffic is exiting at Butler.

Expect major delays and seek an alternate route.

There is no estimated time to reopen the highway.#aztraffic #I40 #Flagstaff pic.twitter.com/t91UOVtjiz

— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) March 17, 2020

The crash remains under investigation.

Trucker expected to survive fuel tanker fire and explosion

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