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Subscribe to RSSA fuel tanker truck was trying to cross railroad tracks, when it got stuck, and was hit by an oncoming train near Dallas, Texas. As TODAY"s Natalie Morales reports, no injuries or deaths have been reported.
DALLAS -- A road tanker carrying more than 8,000 gallons of fuel was hit by a freight train in Wills Point, near Dallas, Texas, early Thursday, causing an explosion.
The tanker was struck by a Union Pacific freight train at state Highway 80 at about 1:15 a.m. local time (2:15 a.m. ET), according to the Van Zandt County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff said a train was stopped on the tracks, blocking most of the intersections in town, so the driver of the tanker took a side road to get around it. But the route wasn't designed to handle 18-wheelers and the tanker ended up getting caught on the tracks.
Just as the tanker got stuck, a Union Pacific train slammed right into it, pushing it along the tracks. Flames erupted soon after the collision.
The tanker driver, two men on the train, a conductor and an engineer escaped without injuries.
Some fuel leaked toward nearby homes, but crews said those home are not in danger of catching on fire. The smoke, however, is a concern and crews are working to evacuate about 50 homes in the area.
Fire departments from across Van Zandt County and Kaufman County are on the scene.
A train hauling coal flips over and falls from a bridge outside of Baltimore, killing two people on the tracks. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
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Leave a Comment:
At least there were no deaths or injuries. The truck driver should be ticketed for driving on a road that was not intended to be used by 18 wheelers.
That was probably one lovely explosion! KABOOM!
ticketed for driving on a road not suitable for trucks?! how about for causing the collision with a train? he had a commercial DL... a ticket is the last thing he should be worried about... if his commercial DL does not get revoked (and this is a huge 'if')... this will still remain on his permanent record... I think his commercial driving days are over...
Sounds like no fatalities. What great news!
figures....i had just about saved up enough money to buy a gallon of gas, and now this....sigh...oh well maybe next week...........:)
True. I am sure that SOMEHOW this will be used as an excuse to either raise fuel prices nation wide or blame President Bush for something.
Oh well, I'm sure the nic will somehow save us all.
Sounds like the owner of the tanker is going to be dropped by his insurer. The driver of it will probably have to go to Mexico to get a job driving trucks again, but then he'll be right back in the US again.
Ha Ha Ha Ha.
You are likely spot on.
I'd say your Momma did raise a fool. You have no idea who the truck driver is, but that didn't stop you from voicing your bigoted view.
Gumps- maybe so, but he does make a valid point!
Gumps, I didn't read where he said the driver was Mexican - he said he'd have to go to Mexico to be able to drive a truck again - meaning that's the only place he'll be able to get hired because their requirements are so much lower than ours- at least that's how I read it. I could be wrong - but in either case, Mymomdidnotraiseafool is absolutely correct. Sad, but true, and not necessarily bigoted.
Okay perhaps not bigoted. But stupid.
Great news that there were no fatalities.
If the driver was a company driver... he is now unemployed, and "future" employment is highly unlikely. If he was an Owner Operator, he has major problems. Besides some federal regulations he likely violated. HE was responsible for the load, and insurance will not cover it or his tractor. Figure about 90-100,000 for the tractor, 45-50,000 for the tank, plus the fuel load. They get real sticky about legal truck routes unless you're forced onto one by law enforcement.
Can you spell IDIOT?
+$0.20 at the pump....
That will be nation wide too Indigo. After all, it was a whole 8000 gal. That's got to affect every gas station in the country for months.
8,000 gallons is nothing. It will not make fuel prices go up at all.
Rush, you don't understand sarcasm when you read it do you? I'm glad that most of us on here are not as inept as you. I bet you think that everyone you know thinks that you know everything there is to know about anything in this wold. Quess again. Everyone talks bad about you behind your back.
The tanker was on a road he never should have been on in the first place so to me the train was in the right because the train was where it was supposed to be and the tanker crossed over private tracks.
I hate it when I hear that train hit the truck as though the train was on the road but it is the opposite but I am so glad nobody got hurt in this horrible accident.
What a dumbazz.
Wow... Texas, go figure. A state that brags about it's low taxes and limited government.
While I am sure that Texan's don't wanna be messed with (See their T-shirts and belt buckles), They also don't wanna have any such 'luxuries or amenities' as decent public schools, paved roads, and in this case.... safe train crossings.
Boils down to the fact that if you want 'limited government', that's what you get.
ktandnt
Yes, they have low taxes and good schools, contrary to popular opinion.
And the train crossing was at a location NOT FOR TRUCKS. What is so difficult to understand about that?
It was after-all fairly well noted in the article. However, I surmise YOUR reading comprehension was not that well honed in the excellent schools YOU attended.
If you go to Texas, you will see that 90% of the crossings are not marked, and the majority of the roads aren't either, as far as which ones are designated "For Trucks" and "Not for Trucks".
chris-1895265
Truckers have maps available which indicate what are truck "routes" and what are not. The only acceptable deviation from those "routes" is when making a local delivery or directed by law enforcement.
It boils down to the old... ignorance of the law is not an excuse.
And I do have a CDL-A with all the endorsements including, HazMat, Double-Triple, Tankers even though I haven't used it in quite a few years.
And anyone that drives knows the LAW regarding stopping at RR crossings, especially hauling a hazmat load. If he had in fact stopped, he would have seen that the rise in the track bed would NOT have allowed his tanker to cross without getting hung. I will submit that he knew he was not supposed to be using that route, and didn't stop hoping he wouldn't get caught.
"Good Schools".... I guess that depends on a comparitive metric, but not good when compared to most of the nation. Fact is fact, Opinion is what people in Texas have.
"NOT FOR TRUCKS"... So I am sure the route was marked as such. And, the money not spent marking the other 90% of Texas roads must have been spent on this one.
Texas has spent years starving it's own infrastructure. And in return they offer tax breaks and incentives to lure people from states/areas that did invest the money to develope their skills and talent.
Texas' new motto
"Come for the low taxes... Stay because the roads out of the state are too dangerous to drive on"...
Or stay because none of the roads are marked, and you will drive around in circles for three hours...
What good is a map when your are driving on unmarked dirt roads?
ktandnt
Get out of the major cities. There are MANY dirt roads in this country. I can show them to you in all the states I have lived in: New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, and states I have traveled through, which are too many to list.
And yes, education is perspective... to a point. Case in point, my son could not get in Minnesota the same class he had when we moved from Pennsylvania as they didn't teach that subject until the 10th grade. We moved when he was entering 8th grade.
So, yes, use comparative metrics. Care to do a comparison between Pennsylvania and Minnesota?
In my town, 18-wheelers cut through the back roads to get around weigh stations. On most days, cops are waiting for them and will give them tickets. On the other days, these trucks are tearing up the roads that weren't built for heavy and usually overloaded trucks.
After some more investigation they'll probably uncover that alcohol was involved in the decision-making processes of this driver- common in trucking industry
Really?? And what do you base that on? Please post a source.
Did you know that while most states now use 0.8 as an indicator of driving under the influence, for commercial drivers, the limit is 0.4? And if you ARE found to be DUI there are IMMEDIATE and harsh punishments (rightly so I might ad) for doing so?
Your decimal is in the wrong place. (A 0.8 you're dead and a 0.4, you're well on your way)
Thanks... oop's
It is good there were no fatalities. Now, let's talk about the impatient truck driver who took a route he should not have been on to get around one train and was hit by another. I bet his supervisor is going to ask a lot of questions, as well as the insurance adjuster and the county road and bridge department. Someone may lose their commercial drivers license over this one.
When will people learn that you will not win against or beat a train?
When they die.
A professional driver making a mistake when dealing with train crossings... Trains always win....
Figures I wasn't there to see it. I'd have paid to.
some of these truckers are total idiots who have no business behind the wheel of a big rig, gone are the days when a driver took pride in a million miles accident free, now schools are training anybody who can afford it and giving them a licence in as little as 2 or 3 weeks. as a semi driver with quite a few accident free miles I get angry when I hear about stupity on the road or when I get cut off on the freeway in my personal truck by an idiot in a semi, any accident on a railroad crossing can 100% avoided by using some common sense for gods sake!
Another moron who almost won a Darwin Award - hope he enjoys flipping burgers - I wouldn't let him keep his license after this.
Truck driver was STUPID and should never be allowed behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle as well as should be fined and spend some jailtime. There is no excuse for what he did! It was not an emergency! He just didn't want to wait.
He was hauling "Hazardous" and there are very strick rules as to where he can go with that truck. What a dumba__.
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