SPILL SHUTS GLENDALE FREEWAY; CRASH DUMPS RADIOACTIVE MEDICAL SUPPLIES.Byline: Donna Huffaker Staff Writer GLENDALE - A crash involving a stalled vehicle and a pickup truck carrying radioactive medical supplies dumped a small amount of hazardous material onto the Glendale Freeway The Glendale Freeway is a minor freeway in the Los Angeles, California, USA, metropolitan area. It runs from Glendale Boulevard in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles to Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada Flintridge. Throughout its length, it is signed as California State Route 2. early Friday, prompting officials to close all lanes in both directions throughout the morning. No one was injured in the 5 a.m. accident, and the radioactive material radioactive material Radiation A substance that contains unstable–radioactive–atoms that give off radiation as they decay. See Radioactive decay. that spilled across three lanes and seeped onto the shoulder was too insignificant to be dangerous, said California Highway Patrol highway patrol n. A state law enforcement organization whose police officers patrol the public highways. Officer Jaret Paulson. Authorities from the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Fire Department's Hazardous Materials squad recorded small amounts of gamma-emitting radioactivity, said department spokesman Brian Humphrey. ``It was well below the dangerous threshold,'' he said. The freeway remained closed for several hours Friday as workers from Caltrans and the Los Angeles County Health Department cleaned up the radioactive material. Glendale resident Henrik Zohrabians was driving his 1994 Geo northbound on the Glendale Freeway just before the Colorado Street exit when he swerved, crashing into the center divider divider See European currency quotation. , Paulson said. It is unclear why he swerved. The impact caused the car to bounce back and come to rest across two lanes. Minutes later, while Zohrabians was phoning for help from the side of the road, 50-year-old William Silvestri of Bellflower bellflower, in botany bellflower or bluebell, name commonly used as a comprehensive term for members of the Campanulaceae, a family of chiefly herbaceous annuals or perennials of wide distribution, characteristically found on dry slammed his 1986 Ford pickup head-on into the Geo, Paulson said. The crash sent containers of the radioactive medical supplies flying out of the truck and onto the road. Both vehicles were severely damaged. No one was cited but an investigation continues, Paulson said. CAPTION(S): 2 photos, map Photo: (1) The northbound Glendale Freeway was closed for hours near the Colorado exit after a car crash caused a spill of hazardous materials. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News (2) Investigators use geiger counters to look for radioactive hot spots hot spots acute moist dermatitis. after a car carrying radioactive medicine crashed on the Glendale Freeway. Map: Crash site (Round Top Dr., Eagle Rock) |
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