Rowan County, NC : Driver killed after tanker truck overturned and leaked a large amount of ethanol in Rowan County on Thursday morning, April 2, 2015

The driver of an overturned tanker truck that leaked ethanol in Rowan County on Thursday morning died, according to North Carolina Highway Patrol.

Hazmat crews responded to the overturned truck and evacuated the scene on Bringle Ferry Road at Panther Creek Road in Salisbury. The driver was the only person in the truck.

Around 8:30 a.m., officials said the driver, later identified as 62-year-old James Richard Sechler, was deceased.

Rowan County EMS Director Frank Thomason said there was around 8,000 gallons of ethanol in the truck when it overturned. Officials estimate that between 3,500 and 4,000 gallons spilled out.

"A fuel tanker from a company called ECO Systems out of Franklin, Tennessee, that had left a fueling terminal from Denton, just east of here, filled with 8,000 gallons of ethanol, lost control, ran off the road and overturned," Thomason said.

More than 20 different agencies from several counties, including Rowan, Davidson and Mecklenburg, responded to help with the clean up of the highly flammable ethanol.

Approximately 75 firefighters and rescue workers were on the scene, as well as a large presence from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

Four homes in the area were evacuated and Bringle Ferry Road was closed down for hours.

Residents living in the closest two houses, which share a well, were not allowed back at their homes Thursday night. Emergency workers said they wanted to make sure the water was not contaminated. It was unclear how long the residents would have to be gone.

One neighbor said there are often accidents on this stretch of road, but none quite like the one that happened this morning.

Hazmat crews worked to clean up fuel they say leaked into the creek below the crash site.

The tanker company hired a company to clean up the mess. That company will excavate the soil at the scene for testing, then replace contaminated soil with fresh soil and plant new grass.

Source :
Driver killed in overturned tanker truck accident in Rowan Co.