Crews investigating fatal crash and possible hazardous materials leak in Sutter County
Authorities on Thursday morning were urging motorists to stay away from the site of a fatal vehicle crash in Sutter County, while crews work on a possible hazardous materials leak, fire officials said.
One person was killed in the crash along Reclamation Road, which was closed to traffic between Tisdale and Pelger roads, the Sutter County Fire Department announced on Facebook about 8:45 a.m. Thursday.
The California Highway Patrol received a reported shortly before 6 a.m. that a big-rig had overturned on Reclamation Road near Sheffield Road. The big-rig became fully engulfed in a fire, according to the CHP’s incident logs.
The investigation into the crash determined that the big-rig was heading north on Reclamation behind a slower-moving vehicle, a pickup towing a boat.
The big-rig tried to pass the pickup and collided head-on with another pickup heading south; both vehicles erupted into flames, the Fire Department announced in an update Thursday morning.
Fire officials said the driver of the pickup heading south died in the crash; the big-rig driver was not injured. The names of the involved drivers had not been released.
The vehicle crash resulted in a possible hazardous materials leak.
The big-rig was hauling 20 tons of anhydrous ammonia, according to the Fire Department. The trailer was intact and there has not been a release of the chemical.
Fire officials said authorities had not ordered any evacuations Thursday morning, and the Yuba-Sutter Hazardous Materials Response Team was at the scene. Fire officials and hazmat crews were expected to remain at the scene as authorities remove the hazardous materials and get the big-rig and its trailer on their wheels again.
The road closure will remain in effect until further notice, and crews expected the closure to last several more hours.
Northbound traffic on Reclamation was being detoured to Cranmore Road at Acme Road and then back to Reclamation at Coles Road, according to Sutter County Road Closures webpage. Southbound traffic will be detoured at Coles to Cranmore then north to Acme and back to Reclamation.
This story was originally published April 22, 2021 at 11:01 AM.
