Authorities evacuated about 100 homes along Interstate 680 in Fremont before dawn Friday after an overturned tanker truck spilled about 7,900 gallons of fuel, sending noxious fumes into the neighborhood.
All four northbound lanes of the interstate were closed for hours while crews tried to set the truck upright, which crashed into a vehicle that had spun out and stalled in a traffic lane, said California Highway Patrol Officer Tyler Hahn.
Fire officials said the fumes and potential for fire after the spilled fuel led city police to go door to door as day broke and order people to leave. Hahn said they hoped to lift the evacuation orders by early evening.
“We are mindful that many are celebrating Christmas Eve and being home has a lot of meaning to many families,” said Aisha Knowles, spokesperson for the Fremont Fire Department. “Crews are working as safely and quickly as possible in order to ensure we can formally lift the evacuation order.”
Three families were sheltering at an evacuation center set up at a public works yard in Fremont, Knowles said. Others refused to leave or went elsewhere.
Hazmat crews and officers with Fish and Wildlife were monitoring potential contamination, including fuel leaked into a storm drain and pond.
The chain-reaction crash began just before 5 a.m. when a Toyota RAV4 spun out, coming to a stop in the slow lane, according to Hahn. The driver had gotten out of the vehicle and was trying to warn oncoming drivers.
The tanker truck driver told officers he didn’t have time to stop when he saw the stalled Toyota and tried to swerve but hit the vehicle. The truck overturned and the driver escaped with bruises, Hahn said. The other driver was not injured.
Julie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @juliejohnson
