On October 1, 2016 at 10:40 p.m., Oregon State Police (OSP) Troopers and emergency personnel responded to a commercial motor vehicle crash 14 miles northwest of Oakridge. Preliminary information indicates, a commercial motor vehicle pulling double fuel tankers, operated by Kevin W. SMITH, age 62, of Lakeview, was traveling eastbound on Highway 58 near milepost 20, when the vehicle combination veered off the right shoulder causing a trailer to overturn and ignite on fire. The vehicle combination became fully engulfed in flames and information indicates that SMITH was unable to exit the vehicle. The highway was closed for about seven hours while fire crews extinguished the fire and investigators completed a reconstruction of the crash scene. ODOT established detours in the area during the closure. OSP was assisted by numerous local area fire agencies.
OR 58 fuel tanker crash site cleanup
Travelers should expect one lane to be closed on OR 58 Willamette Highway, 14 miles west of Oakridge, for at least another week as crews clean up contaminated soil and repair damaged roadway following a fuel tanker crash late Saturday night. The eastbound lane will remain completely closed near milepost 20 with flaggers and a pilot car directing traffic. Cleanup crews are onsite between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Segments of both directions of roadway were damaged in the fire that followed the crash. Cleanup of the area and removal of contaminated soil must be completed before the road repair can begin. It has yet to be determined if soil underneath the road will need to be removed. A second work zone in the area will be finishing shoulder aggregate work associated with the recent paving project. That work will be done between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Wednesday through Friday this week. Travelers should also expect short delays from that project, as it moves through the area recently paved between Dexter and Black Canyon. There are no indications that fuel from the tanker has reached nearby Lookout Point Reservoir, but Oregon Department of Environmental Quality employees have been closely monitoring the water for any signs of fuel. DEQ employees are also working with ODOT and its contractors to oversee the removal of contaminated soil on the site. On Monday, about 175 cubic yards of contaminated soil was hauled off site. It’s not clear how much longer cleanup efforts will take, but DEQ employees expect to be on site overseeing the cleanup for at least a few more days. The cleanup is intended to remove as much contamination as possible to protect human health and the environment.