Large fire over northeast Columbus highway after tanker overturns
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A large plume of smoke is covering Interstate 270 in northeast Columbus after a tanker carrying thousands of gallons of oil overturned and caught fire.
A police dispatcher said that a semi carrying fuel overturned on the ramp from I-270 South to State Route 161 East just before 1:45 p.m. and caught fire.
The driver of the tanker was taken to Riverside Hospital and is in stable condition.
A spokesperson with Columbus Division of Fire said the tanker was carrying 8,500 gallons of fuel.
"At that point, it turns into a Hazmat run with a fire and our crews began to work on that scene," Columbus Division of Fire Battalion Chief Jeffrey Geitter said.
In addition to Columbus fire, Franklin Township fire was called in to use that department's foam truck, and Port Columbus/John Glenn fire also responded.
Geitter said a large majority of the spilled fuel burned off and that a large majority of the fuel was in the tanker part of the truck.
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Columbus Public Health, and Franklin County emergency management have all been notified and will respond accordingly, Geitter added.
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"There's not any active leak into the ground at the moment or anything like that," he said.
The fire forced long-term closures of all lanes on I-270 and SR 161 in the area. The bridge has sustained fire damage as crews continue to assess the situation. Geitter said the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) will be inspecting the overpass to determine if the bridge will reopen.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.