Diesel Spill on Route 32
 
By Fire Fighter/EMT Pieter Lucas
January 19, 2015
 

Engine 31 responded this morning for a fuel spill on Route 32 in West Friendship. At 06:20, the station was alerted to respond to the scene of a property damage tractor trailer collision on Route 32 at Pfefferkorn Road to assist with diesel fuel containment. Engine 31 arrived to find a single vehicle collision involving a tractor trailer loaded with 41,000 pounds of Wisconsin cheese that had crashed into the guardrail and several signs, causing the front axle of the tractor to shear off. Engine 31 observed a ruptured saddle tank and requested Howard County DFRS Special Operations and the Maryland Department of the Environment's Emergency Response Division to the scene. Units worked to offload the diesel from the saddle tanks and minimize fuel leaking into the storm drain. Route 32 remained closed until approximately 09:30 while crews cleared debris from the roadway.