Firefighters deal with the smoking ruin of a fuel tanker that caught fire in Indianapolis.
Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Fire Department.
About 4,000 gallons of jet fuel ignited in a massive fireball when a tanker overturned in east Indianapolis Thursday at the junction between two interstate highways.
The driver escaped in flames from the vehicle and remains in critical condition with extensive burns, authorities report. One of three Good Samaritans who rescued him had given birth only days earlier.
According to the Indianapolis Fire Department, the tanker was exiting I-465 southbound onto I-70 eastbound just before 2 p.m. when it hit the guardrail, overturned, and split open. Multiple dashcams captured the billowing ignition that followed.
Heavy fire and fuel runoff made it difficult for crews to respond. With all available water quickly exhausted, three water tankers soon responded to the scene. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in about 40 minutes.
The ramp, lacking any significant structural damage, reopened Friday morning after Indiana Department of Transportation worker labored overnight to sandblast it.
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