Tanker hits car left on bypass
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on June 11, 2007 1:45 PM
Traffic on U.S. 70 West in Goldsboro was brought to a stand still early this morning when a fuel carrier slammed into an abandoned vehicle causing the car to burst into flames.
Details about the two-vehicle accident were incomplete at presstime. However, according to preliminary reports from the Goldsboro Police Department, the tanker struck an abandoned vehicle that was left in the roadway at about 5:19 a.m., Goldsboro police Sgt. G.N. Lynch said.
The accident occurred on U.S. 70 between Spence Avenue and Wayne Memorial Drive.
"No lights were on or anything," Lynch said. "It was completely abandoned, sitting in the travel lane."
The impact of the accident caused the abandoned vehicle to catch fire, officials said. However, no one was hurt in the accident.
The driver's name and the owner of the abandoned vehicle were unavailable. The tanker company was Stalling's Transport of Middlesex. The truck driver was Thomas Holloman, 58, of Pikeville.
Mel Powers, Wayne County emergency management coordinator, said the truck had already offloaded before the accident.
The spilled diesel fuel came from the truck's saddle tanks that ruptured. Between 100 and 110 gallons of diesel fuel spilled onto the road, catching fire along with the car. Those blazes were put out by the Goldsboro Fire Department. A third fire involving the tanker was put out by the driver, Powers said.
The road leading to Raleigh was reduced to one lane and traffic was backed up for miles until about 6:30 a.m. as workers cleared the scene. Powers said that he "didn't see any damage to the road," though.
More cleanup crews from Eastern Environmental also were on the scene by about 8 a.m to clean up the side of the road along the ditch where fuel continued to spill after the truck's driver had pulled off the road, Powers added. Those efforts were expected to take several hours. Charges are pending in the case, Lynch said.