Tanker Explodes On I-5 In Lynnwood
The driver survived, and there were no initial reports of any injuries, State Patrol Trooper Lance Ramsey said.
The tanker had been carrying a total of about 11,300 gallons of fuel and was en route to Marysville when the explosion occured, said Assistant Chief Ed Widdis of Snohomish County Fire District.
Investigators believe the explosion was triggered by sparks from the tanker hitting a guard rail, then striking a cement barrier on the side of the overpass, Ramsey said, adding that the tanks had "split open."
As for why the tanker hit the guard rail, witnesses told KOMO 4 News the driver may have fallen asleep.
"I saw him fall asleep, and he kept on kind of waking up," says witness Brianna Banchera. "I told my friend 'he's falling asleep' so she started honking her horn to get everyone's attention and try and wake him up."
Seconds later Banchera watched the tanker veer into a jersey barrier on the side of the road and burst into flames. The fireball shot 100 feet into the air.
Sue Bramer, who identified herself as the mother of the man driving the tanker, said her son, Gary, made it out of the truck and called her.
"He didn't want me to hear it on the news," she told reporters. "It's a miracle he's alive."
She said he told her he was not seriously injured and was being taken to an area hospital. "It's a miracle he's alive," she said.
Gary Bramer, 32, of Tukwila, was taken to Providence Everett Medical Center with minor injuries. He left the hospital a short time later, before investigators could talk to him.
"He was free to leave but we wanted to talk to him ... so we're going to have to talk to him at a later time," Ramsey said.
Witnesses said the explosion happened around 12:45 p.m. near a northbound exit at 212th Street Southwest.
The smoke could be seen as far away as Bellevue, about 17 miles southeast of Lynnwood. A steady stream of water from a nearby fire truck was trained on the tanker, but the smoke continued to billow nearly an hour after the explosion.
Crews sprayed the tanker with fire-retardant foam, which put the blaze out around 1:45 p.m.
"The overpass on 44th on northboud I-5 is just charbroiled, for lack of a better word," Ramsey said. "The side barrier along the overpass, it's been ripped apart and burned. About three-quarters of an inch of concrete on the barrier has been removed."
"The entire tanker is ripped apart," he added. "It looks like somebody disassembled the entire tanker and just left the parts laying there."
Crews working to extinguish the fire were concerned that a second tanker nearby might be in danger of exploding.
"They had a separate tanker that wasn't involved yet so their tactic for that was to try to cool it with water to try to keep it from becoming involved," said Warren Burns of the Everett Fire Department.
Seven incident response teams were called to help direct traffic, which was backed up for miles in each direction, State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jamie Holter said. Bridge and road inspectors were also called to the scene.
Both directions of I-5 over 44th Avenue West were slowed for hours after the explosion, Holter said.