Lanes reopened Sunday afternoon after a big rig tanker carrying liquid propane overturned in a collision on the southbound 405 Freeway in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The crash happened at around 7:20 a.m. on the freeway just north of the 101 Freeway interchange when the big rig crashed into a center divider, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. All lanes were closed while crews worked to clear the scene.
California Highway Patrol said all lanes of the freeway were reopened shortly before 3 p.m.
The big rig tanker was fully loaded with 9,400 gallons of highly flammable liquid propane, but no propane leak or fire were reported, fire officials said.
“Lucky enough, none of the liquid propane has exited the tanker at this time,” a California Highway Patrol officer told KTLA at the scene. “We are monitoring it closely. In order to off-load the liquid propane, they need to bring in another big rig here, and as a precautionary [measure] by L.A. Fire, they want us to go ahead and shut down the whole 405 freeway when that occurs.”
Because of the fire threat from the liquid propane, fire officials said they can’t remove the big rig from the roadway until the propane is loaded onto another tanker.
A Hazmat team arrived at the scene. Officials said they were taking readings and samples from around the area, out of an abundance of caution.
“If there is a spark or a problem, it can create a very large fire so we need to not have anybody around here, so motorists don’t get hurt,” an official with the L.A. Fire Department said.
Authorities said investigators were working to determine what caused the crash.
The tanker’s 51-year-old male driver was transported to a hospital with a non-life threatening injury, fire officials said.
No other injuries were reported.
When the tanker crashed into the divider, it launched concrete debris onto the freeway, hitting some vehicles driving on the right shoulder, and flattening their tires, the CHP officer said.
Crews were able to reopen the scene shortly before 3 p.m., almost 8 hours after the crash happened.
I-405 CLOSED in both directions from Burbank Bl to US-101. NB & SB US-101 connectors to NB I-405 CLOSED. Overturned propane tanker. Until further notice. #TrafficAlert #tanker pic.twitter.com/ToAbOUg3ur
— Caltrans District 7 (@CaltransDist7) March 10, 2019
SIGALERT UPDATE IN SHERMAN OAKS: SB AND NB I-405 AT US-101 – ALL LANES AND WB US-101 TRANS RD TO NB I-405 BLOCKED FOR AN UNKNOWN DURATION DUE TO A COLLISION – LOG 0707
— CHP PIO – LA County (@CHPsouthern) March 10, 2019
Overturned propane tanker Southbound 405 at Burbank Blvd. All southbound lanes are closed and limited lanes are open on northbound side. PLEASE AVOID THE AREA. pic.twitter.com/r9HyeEq7Lf
— CHP – West Valley (@CHPWestValley) March 10, 2019
SIGALERT UPDATE IN SHERMAN OAKS: SB AND NB I-405 AT US-101 – ALL LANES BLOCKED, SB US-101 TRANS RD TO NB I-405 BLOCKED, AND NB US-101 TRANS RD TO NB I-405 BLOCKED FOR AN UNKNOWN DURATION DUE TO A COLLISION
— CHP PIO – LA County (@CHPsouthern) March 10, 2019