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Tanker Fire Near Hurricane Utah.
by Clare Prisbrey for cbear Photography
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Tanker Crash kills 1, blocks SR-9:
- Blanding man dies! when fuel truck tips over.
- Several of these pictures were printed in the Color Country Spectrum, and others made the State and National News.
- All of these photos were taken by Clare Prisbrey and may not be used or reproduced without my written permission.
A 48 year old Blanding man was killed in a fiery tractor-trailer accident. The fuel truck he was driving burst into flames after tipping onto its side and skidding several hundred feet. The thick black smoke was visable for miles. .
I live in Quail Lake Estates near SR-9. I was home when the accident happened, my home is near the retaining/sound wall along SR-9 just a few yards away from the accident location. I was in the process of downloading some digital images when I heard this loud explosion and the walls shook and the windows rattled. I did not think much of it because cars running into the wall is a regular occurane. Then I heard more explosions so I went outside. You can imagine my surprise. Flames and smoke, It was so hot that you could not get near the truck. You could feel the heat several blocks away.
HURRICANE — A 48-year old Blanding man was killed in a fiery tractor-trailer accident Thursday. The fuel truck he was driving burst into flames after tipping on its side and skidding across several lanes.
Dennis C. Jones died in the 6 p.m. accident at mile marker 3 on State Road 9 near the Quail Lake Quik Stop. Jones, who was driving the DATS truck, was an assistant principal and the athletic director at San Juan High School.
Thick, black smoke, visible for miles, prompted numerous calls to The Spectrum’s newsroom.
Units from Hurricane, Washington City, St. George and the BLM responded to the fire in which the truck and trailer were destroyed.
Hurricane Police officers and Washington County Sheriff’s deputies stopped traffic in both directions for several hours. The road was blocked from the Hurricane exit off Interstate 15 and from the Hurricane side as well.
Firefighters had the fire out shortly after 7 p.m. By about 10 p.m. Utah Highway Patrol troopers were escorting traffic past the scene.
Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Shawn Hinton said Jones was headed eastbound on SR9.
“It appears that he went into the breakdown lane and over- corrected to the left,” Hinton said. “The trailer hit the Jersey (cement) barrier, ripping open the trailer.”
Hinton said the trailer ignited and slid approximately 100 yards before coming to a rest, leaving large splotches of color and huge burn marks on the asphalt.
The truck was carrying 8,000 gallons of gasoline.
Fuel from the ruptured tank ignited, torching brush on both sides of the bridge which crosses the Virgin River just west of Quail Lake Estates. It also blackened the cement barrier wall on the side of the highway.
“It was amazing that no other vehicles were involved,” Hinton said, pointing to a large burn mark on the highway. “Especially with the traffic on SR9.”
Thomas Roundy, 17, was also driving east on SR9 when the accident occurred.
“I was coming around the corner by the gas station when I saw the truck on its side and flames coming out of it,” Roundy said. “It was just incredible.”
Residents of Quail Lake Estates
A resident of Quail Lake Estates, Frank Olsen, said, “I heard a boom and I used to work at Thiokol (the rocket motor plant in northern Utah) so I knew it wasn’t a firecracker. Then there was another, more serious boom and I went outside. You could see lots of smoke and flames. I tilted my head back but I couldn’t see the top of the flames they were so high.”
Homes behind the 12-foot retaining wall which protects Quail Lake Estates were engulfed in heavy smoke. However, only five homes suffered any damage.
Capt. Rodney Tomkinson of the Hurricane Fire Department said there was some exterior damage to several homes, but most of it was minor.
Behind the barrier wall, the intense heat melted the trailer skirting, a storage shed, and several plastic items in the yard of one home.
Part of the lawn was charred, as were several trees.
The owner was not at home and fire department personnel were unable to gain entry to check for smoke damage.
There was a report of some children playing in the river at the time of the accident, but a member of the Washington County Sheriff’s office checked and found no one in the area.
Letter by: Paul K Bevin
For the second time in a few years, a fuel-laden tanker-truck has crashed and burned on the SR-9 Virgin River Bridge in Hurricane City, within feet of dozens of homes and hundreds of people and children, with only a "soundwall" preventing holocaust.
The photo of these houses, submitted by Clare Prisbrey or the news story of the disaster, vividly show the conflageration next to these homes.
How many people could have died?
These photos are very descriptive.
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Tanker Crash kills 1, blocks SR-9:
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HURRICANE — A 48-year old Blanding man was killed in a fiery tractor-trailer accident Thursday. The fuel truck he was driving burst into flames after tipping on its side and skidding across several lanes.
Dennis C. Jones died in the 6 p.m. accident at mile marker 3 on State Road 9 near the Quail Lake Quik Stop. Jones, who was driving the DATS truck, was an assistant principal and the athletic director at San Juan High School.
Thick, black smoke, visible for miles, prompted numerous calls to The Spectrum’s newsroom.
Units from Hurricane, Washington City, St. George and the BLM responded to the fire in which the truck and trailer were destroyed.
Hurricane Police officers and Washington County Sheriff’s deputies stopped traffic in both directions for several hours. The road was blocked from the Hurricane exit off Interstate 15 and from the Hurricane side as well.
Firefighters had the fire out shortly after 7 p.m. By about 10 p.m. Utah Highway Patrol troopers were escorting traffic past the scene.
Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Shawn Hinton said Jones was headed eastbound on SR9.
“It appears that he went into the breakdown lane and over- corrected to the left,” Hinton said. “The trailer hit the Jersey (cement) barrier, ripping open the trailer.”
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