Baker County, OR : 62-year-old man killed, another injured in tractor trailer crash on Interstate 84 near Huntington on Tuesday, March 15, 2016

A semi driver hauling hazardous materials crashed into another big rig stopped on the interstate due to another crash a mile down the road Tuesday.

The impact fatally injured the driver, Milton Vaughn, 62, of Altoona, Kan.; and breached the containment of the load of aluminum oxide powder in his semi trailer, Oregon State Police said.

The fatal crash happened around 11:55 a.m. on Interstate 84, about a half hour after troopers responded to a report of an overturned truck.

The first crash involved a a 2006 Freightliner pulling a trailer. For unknown reasons, driver Ivan Berezin, 34, of Gresham left the eastbound lanes into the median. The truck returned to the road and overturned, blocking both eastbound lanes.

Medics took Berezin from the scene by air ambulance to Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise, Idaho.

The crash and emergency response brought traffic to a halt on the remote stretch of I-84 west of the Idaho border.

The stoppage brought driver Abraham Garza Tanguma, 33, of Rio Grande City, Texas, and his 2015 Kenworth pulling a trailer to a halt.

Just before noon, Vaughn came upon the stopped traffic at highway speeds and crashed into the rear of Garza Tanguma's trailer, police said.

Police said Vaughn's cargo of Aluminum Oxide Powder UN3175 started leaking. A hazmat team from the Ontario Fire Department arrived and were assisted by H20 Environmental from Boise, Idaho, for cleanup, police said.

Vaughn died at the scene.

Medics took Garza Tanguma by ambulance to Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Ontario, Ore.

The crash and cleanup closed I-84 westbound for about 4 hours and eastbound for 9 hours.

The closure at one point stretched from Pendleton all the way to Ontario on the Idaho border, a distance of over 150 miles.

When crashes, accidents, wildfires or other hazards prompt closures of I-84 in that part of Oregon, the Oregon DOT closes long stretches of interstate because of a lack of services for stranded travelers in the sparsely populated northeastern corner of the state.

Source :
Big rig slams into truck stopped for a crash, killing driver, spilling hazmat