Tanker Truck Crash in Washington Pass with 11,000 Gallons of Fuel

Teams of tow crews and the WSDOT maintenance team had to work together to try and recover the truck without the fuel spilling or catching fire.

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Fuel Tanker Truck Crashes in the North Cascade Mountains

This last weekend, crews from the Washington State Department of Transportation had to work with a group of tow trucks after a fuel tanker truck crashed on SR-20 in Washington State. The truck had driven off the road and slid down a steep embankment with over 11,000 gallons of fuel in the tanker's trailer. When crews arrived they found the tanker almost completely on its top resting on trees around 50 feet down the hill from the highway. The tanker had crashed through many trees before luckily resting on a group strong enough to temporarily hold the weight otherwise it might have continued to crash down the hill.

How Crews Removed the Tanker Safely

One of the first questions asked on the WSDOT East X post was if any of the fuel was spilled in the recovery. WSDOT replied that before the tow trucks attempted to move the trailer or the truck, they pumped all the fuel up the hill to an empty tanker above on the highway. That ensured that the fuel would not leak or catch fire during the recovery and also made the tanker much lighter and easier for the tow trucks to move. Technically, it made the trucks 66,000 pounds lighter with fuel weighing around 6 pounds per gallon. After the fuel was pumped out, three tow trucks worked with the WSDOT crew to wench the truck and its now empty trailer back to the highway above. No injuries were reported, besides the few dozen trees that were smashed in the original crash.