Fuel tanker crashes near homes in Oakland Park, flips over
OAKLAND PARK - A tanker carrying 1,100 gallons of diesel fuel flipped over, landing between two homes Tuesday morning in Oakland Park.
The driver was taken to Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale with minor injuries.
At about 5:30 a.m., neighbors were jolted out of bed when a truck containing diesel fuel traveling northbound overturned at 5325 N. Andrews Ave. and Northwest 53rd Court.
A neighbor who heard the crash, who did not want to be identified, raced over to help. "S911 then I ran over there, and saw the driver try to open the door, the passenger door. He came out of the truck. I hold the driver, me and the garbage truck driver help him," he said.
People in the area said they were lucky it wasn't much worse.
"I heard an explosion and woke up," Raffaella Solano told CBS News Miami.
The tanker overturned in his neighbor's driveway.
Oakland Park firefighters had to carefully get the fuel out of each of the compartments.
Assistant Fire Chief Marc Vermont described the process.
"Each one of them is compartmentalized," he said. "So they have to drill a hole. Very controlled, creating no sparks. So they are flowing water as they are drilling, using air drills."
"Once they breach that aluminum, which is about an inch thick into the compartment, they have to put a hose in there," he said.
He said they were able to get all of the fuel out.
Then, tow trucks tipped over the truck.
People who live nearby complain there are a lot of accidents here. One neighbor even keeps a file on his phone. He would like to see something done to make the street safer.