2 Big Rig Crashes Snarl DFW Traffic
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MCKINNEY (CBSDFW.COM) - Crews worked overnight to clean up a big rig crash along a McKinney freeway. The incident happened just after 10:00 p.m. on Monday along Highway 75, near the intersection with Wilmeth Road.
The driver of the truck was heading southbound along the roadway when his vehicle got a flat tire. The big rig ran into a concrete retaining wall, causing the truck's fuel tanks to catch on fire.
Heavy flames and smoke were shooting from the 18-wheeler when emergency workers first arrived on the scene. Those fire crews shut down the highway for several hours while they doused the flames.
The burned-out big rig was pulled away from the scene at about 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. The truck was carrying general merchandise for Walgreens including plastic juice bottles.
There were no reports of injuries in this incident.
This is an area that is already under road construction. However, there has been no word yet about whether or not that construction was a factor in the crash, or what the cause might have been. Officials have also not said if this fiery crash will impact the road project.
Meanwhile, a second crash involving a big rig and a pickup truck caused more traffic problems Tuesday morning. This one happened at about 5:00 a.m. in the northbound lanes of Stemmons Freeway, near the intersection with Oak Lawn Avenue in Dallas.
Officials at that crash scene said that the pickup truck's driver lost control of the vehicle and spun out in front of the big rig. The 18-wheeler slammed into the smaller truck before crashing through a guardrail and coming to a rest on its side in a ditch.
One person was killed and three other individuals were hurt. All four of the victims were inside of the pickup truck. The two people inside of the 18-wheeler were not injured. Officials have not released the names of anybody involved in this incident.
The flipped big rig blocked several lanes of traffic for hours. However, the scene has now been cleared and cars are able to move freely through the area again.