Big-rig oil spill closes westbound Interstate 80 near Colfax, CHP says
Westbound lanes of Interstate 80 were closed Sunday near Colfax, with traffic detouring through Secret Town, following a diesel spill from a semi-tanker.
An incident log for the California Highway Patrol showed that a semi-tanker that had pulled over with its flashers on began leaking oil at 10:38 a.m. near the junction with Highway 174. Another driver nearly lost control of their vehicle when the vehicle hit the oil slick, the driver told the CHP in an emergency call.
Workers initially kept the No. 1 westbound lane open because the spill was contained to the No. 2 lane. The decision to fully close the freeway lanes was made at 10:50 a.m. so that the fuel could be cleaned up.
In all, approximately 100 to 120 gallons of diesel spilled onto the freeway. The CHP log noted that the driver “hit something in the roadway and it ruptured the bottom of the tank.”
A CHP spokesperson said the closure extended from west of the Cape Horn undercrossing to Colfax. The spokesperson did not know when the freeway would fully reopen and said cleanup was still underway as of about 1 p.m.
The incident log noted just before 1:30 p.m. that a hard closure was in place at Secret Town and that there was a possible additional hard closure at Rollins.
This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 1:46 PM.
