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Tanker truck filled with fuel overturns in Roanoke, igniting huge fire

Posted on Aug 24, 2011

A tanker truck carrying 5,600 gallons of jet fuel is still burning after it crashed at Highway 114 and Litsey Road in Roanoke.

Dark plumes of smoke and fire could be seen rising from the wreck site. Grass on the nearby median was blackened by fire.

The tanker truck was traveling eastbound on Highway 114 when it collided with a Jeep Wrangler, said Lt. Doug Parks of the Roanoke Fire Dept. The fire department received a call at 3:29 p.m and was joined by nine other area fire departments.

Details of the accident are still under investigation, Parks said.

A passenger in the Jeep was transported to an area hospital in unknown condition, he said. The truck and Jeep drivers were unharmed.

Traffic has been shut down on Highway 114, between Interstate 35 and Highway 377 in both directions because of thick smoke.

The fire from the truck spread to the grass in the medians, but it was soon extinguished.

A Northwest school district spokeswoman said most students have been dropped off by school buses or are on their way home. Students who live in the Briarwyck neighborhood are likely still delayed because the only entrance into the area is still closed, said Lesley Weaver, a Northwest spokeswoman.

The fire delayed some buses from arriving to pick up riders at Medlin Middle and Byron Nelson High schools, but those students have all been picked up from campus, Weaver said.

Police checked bus routes in the area to make sure the roadways were not closed or congested. Some students were put on other buses, which ran multiple routes, Weaver said.

Buses with students inside had been diverted to a Walmart parking lot at U.S. 377 and Texas 114 after the fire, but those buses departed after police found another route for them to take, Weaver said.

Today is the first day of classes for the 16,700-student school district, which is based in north Fort Worth and includes parts of Tarrant, Denton and Wise counties.

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