BLAZING TANKER CRASH KILLS ONE, CLOSES 101 FREEWAY.Byline: Yvette Cabrera and David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Daily News Staff Writers A Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. man was killed and four others injured Saturday in a fiery collision involving a gasoline tanker Gasoline tankers came into use after the demise of the coal-carrying collier, which provided coal for ship's enines. With the advent of ships which ran on oil and used on board gasoline motors, and warships with aircraft which required gasoline, the gasoline tanker was created as a truck that exploded on the Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. . All westbound lanes of the freeway at the scene were expected to be closed until Monday morning so Caltrans hazardous materials crews can clean up the spill, California Highway Patrol highway patrol n. A state law enforcement organization whose police officers patrol the public highways. officials said. Zaki Gordon, 22, who was driving a sport-utility vehicle sport-u·til·i·ty vehicle n. Abbr. SUV A four-wheel-drive vehicle with a roomy body, designed for off-road travel. , died when his vehicle became engulfed in flames In Flames is a melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden founded in 1990. Along with Dark Tranquillity and At the Gates, they pioneered what is now known as melodic death metal. , CHP CHP Chapter CHP Combined Heat and Power CHP California Highway Patrol CHP Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (Turkish: Republican People's Party) CHP Chemical Hygiene Plan (OSHA) CHP Community Health Plan Officer Frank Sansone said. His brothers who were also in the vehicle - Yoni yoni In Hinduism, a representation of the female sexual organ and feminine generative power, the symbol of the goddess Shakti (see shakti). The yoni is often associated with the phallic linga, the symbol of the god Shiva. , 11, and Adam, 14 - suffered minor injuries and were being treated at Los Robles Robles is a common surname in the Spanish language meaning oaks, and may refer to:
Gordon entered the freeway at Lindero Canyon Road and sideswiped the tanker shortly before 1 p.m., causing both vehicles to go out of control, Sansone said. Slick asphalt from a light rain contributed to the collision, he said. The tanker careened across four lanes, crashed and erupted into flames as high as 200 feet. ``It slid into the guardrail and burst into flames as it was spewing gas,'' said CHP spokesman Dwight McDonald. The 10,000-gallon-capacity Chevron truck was carrying 8,800 gallons of gas and was worth about $100,000, said George Arslanian, the transportation supervisor of Chevron's regional office in Van Nuys. Truck driver John Legans, a 48-year-old Lancaster resident, was taken to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Woodland Hills, where he was in stable condition Saturday night and underwent routine testing to check for broken bones and other injuries, said hospital spokeswoman Linda Quon. ``Upon impact, (the passengers) got out and thought the driver got out,'' McDonald said. ``When they saw he was still in there, they ran back and tried to get him out, but the flames were too intense, so they had to back off.'' Witnesses said a good Samaritan pulled Legans from the tanker wreckage immediately after the crash. That person, a 19-year-old man whose name was not immediately available, was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. It is rated as one of the top three hospitals in the United States and is the top hospital on the West Coast according to US News & World Report. , where he was treated for second-degree burns to his face and possible respiratory burns as well, McDonald said. All lanes in both directions were closed for five hours Saturday, but by 5 p.m. two of the eastbound lanes were reopened. Caltrans may have to repair some of the freeway, said CHP Lt. Andria Whitmer. ``The asphalt's been damaged. It's got to be repaved,'' she said. Legans contacted his boss, Arslanian, by phone Saturday and sounded shaken up, but otherwise fine, the supervisor said. ``It's a dangerous business (carrying fuel). We're obviously glad to talk to him,'' said Arslanian, who expressed sadness over the death of the other driver. Though Legans' driving record wasn't immediately available, Arslanian expressed confidence in the trucker's abilities. ``He's got over 20 years of safe driving with us,'' the supervisor said. Chris Koch, a Thousand Oaks resident who was driving on the eastbound 101 directly across the median from where the crash occurred, said he thought the entire freeway would be engulfed in flames. ``The explosions kept coming - boom, boom, boom,'' he said. Koch said he jumped out of his car to try to help the truck driver, only to see someone else run to the driver's aid and pull him out safely. ``You felt helpless, but the best thing to see was the driver getting out of the truck,'' Koch said. All that remained of the burned-out tanker were the axles, engine and mangled steel frame. Next to it, covering two lanes, sat the wrecked sport-utility vehicle, its wheels melted off. Trees on the side of the freeway were also charred. Los Angeles County Fire Department Not to be confused with Los Angeles Fire Department. The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD), serves unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, as well as 58 cities and towns that choose to have the county provide fire and EMS services, including the City of La supervisor Gary Wise said more than 100 firefighters from Los Angeles and Ventura counties battled the blaze for nearly 2-1/2 hours. Daily News Staff Writer Phillip W. Browne contributed to this story. CAPTION(S): 3 Photos PHOTO (1--Color) Smoke and flames from a burning gasoline tanker truck cover the Ventura Freeway in Westlake Village on Saturday as a motorist runs from the scene. Steen Davies/Special to the Daily News (2--Color--Ran in Conejo and Simi Editions only) Ventura County firefighters spray foam on a burning tanker truck Saturday on the 101 in Westlake Village. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News (3) The burned-out wreckage of the victim's vehicle, left, and the tanker lies in the westbound lanes of the Ventura Freeway. John McCoy/Daily News |
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