Eastbound traffic on the King Expressway was reduced to one lane and blocked at times Thursday after a semitruck from the Garland County Landfill went down an embankment just east of the Malvern exit, overturning near a creek.
The driver, who declined to comment, was not injured, even though the truck, which was not loaded, overturned on the passenger side, partially crushing the cab. Hot Springs Fire Chief Ed Davis called the driver the "most fortunate man in all of Hot Springs."
The incident prompted a response from 11 different emergency services, which were tasked with containing and cleaning up fuel that drained into the creek and removing the wreckage, in addition to handling traffic flow. Emergency vehicles that initially parked on the eastbound shoulder eventually blocked the outside eastbound lane of the expressway.
Hot Springs police Lt. Greg Stringer said the truck, a 2005 CH 600 Mack Granite from the Garland County Landfill, was eastbound on the highway at around 8:45 a.m. when the driver noticed that his steering was "acting up," which prompted him to pull the truck onto the shoulder. That caused him to lose control of the truck, which rolled off the roadway for 100 yards and fell onto its passenger side in the trees on the highway's south embankment.
Bo Robertson, director of the Garland County Department of Emergency Management, said the truck was not carrying any waste, but 12 gallons of motor oil and around 200 gallons of diesel fuel leaked from the truck.
The Hot Springs Fire Department deployed its HAZMAT team to the scene, and placed containment booms in the creek downstream of the wreck. Shift Commander Charles Nicholson said that although the first boom caught all of the leaking fluids, two additional booms were placed downstream as a precaution.
The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department and Arkansas Waste Services were among the agencies called to the scene.
The fire department had to use chainsaws to clear a path for Burks & Mahoney Wrecker Service to pull the truck up the embankment, which started at around 11:40 a.m. -- nearly three hours after the wreck.
Michael Neal, operations manager of Waste Services of North Little Rock, said an absorbent substance would be used to collect the petroleum particles, along with a vacuum.
Hot Springs police twice blocked off the section of the expressway from Carpenter Dam Road to Malvern Avenue, both times directing the highway's eastbound traffic south onto Carpenter Dam Road.
According to Hot Springs police Officer 1st Class Robert Plyler, the section of highway was shut down for "no more than two hours" total.
The roadway was blocked for a second time as a second towing service, Phillips Brothers Towing Service of North Little Rock, was called to the scene to help pull the truck up the embankment.
Phillips Brothers arrived at the scene around 1:45 p.m., and the two services were able to pull the truck up the embankment. The truck was towed away to the landfill at 3:17 p.m. by Burks & Mahoney.
Glenn Jordan, of Waste Services, said he and his team would begin their operation after the truck had been towed off. He said due to the light nature of oil and gasoline, their work would not take long.
"In an hour, hour and a half, we'll be done," Jordan said.
Local on 06/09/2017