Tanker goes up in Flames on Dalton Highway

Tanker burns after Sunday roll-over on Dalton Highway. Image-DOT
Tanker burns after Sunday roll-over on Dalton Highway. Image-DOT

The scene of Sunday’s roll-over of a fuel tanker on the Dalton Highway, north of Wiseman, became a fire scene on Monday morning according to trooper dispatch. According to troopers, the semi caught fire during recovery efforts to clean up the large fuel spill that occurred there Sunday.

The original accident occurred at mile 188.8 of the Dalton Highway on Sunday night after 8 pm. The Coldfoot Department of Transportation reported the accident at 8:47 pm. A Wildlife trooper from Coldfoot responded to the scene to find that a semi hauling a  fuel tanker went off the road there and rolled over in the ditch.

45-year-old William Isca was injured in the crash. The responding trooper performed initial EMS care and also transported the injured driver to mile 155 of the highway, where an Alyeska ambulance took over Isca’s care. Alyeska Pipeline personnel worked to coordinate Isca’s transportation to a Fairbanks hospital via an aircraft medevac.

The tanker truck, owned by Big State Logistics, was hauling 10,000 gallons of fuel from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay when the accident occurred. When the tanker rolled over, the tank was ruptured and a portion of its contents spilled onto the ground. It was estimated that approximately 1,200 gallons of diesel spilled.

The DEC and the Department of Transportation’s Commercial Vehicle Enforcement were notified of the accident and spill. Big State Logistics sent workers to the scene to perform the cleanup.The remaining 9,000 gallons of diesel was pumped out of the tanker. Big State workers used absorbants to clean up the spilled fuel.

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It was after those recovery efforts, the vehicle and tanker caught fire. The vehicle was a total loss.

The driver of the vehicle has since been released from the hospital.