Tanker leaks 1,000 gallons of gasoline in Dayton after malfunction

A fuel tanker hauling 8,000 gallons of gasoline Thursday morning spilled 1,000 gallons from a compartment after an equipment malfunction.

Hazmat crews were called late Thursday morning to Air City Avenue, just off Stanley Avenue, in Dayton. The roads were closed in the area, and nearby Gem City Chemicals was evacuated, said Jeff Lykins, director and chief of the Dayton Fire Department.

“When crews arrived, we found a gasoline tanker that holds approximately 8,000 gallons of gasoline. It’s leaking in a compartment, a baffle, that holds 1,000 gallons. The manual shutoff for that leak is nonoperational, and there is no way for us to shut that off, so essentially we’re creating a dike that will hold 1,000 gallons of product on the ground,” Lykins said at the scene.

The leak was surrounded, and crews waited for the rest of the gasoline to empty from the baffle. By 3:30 p.m., it was no longer leaking, according to the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center.

A sand truck was used to create a dike, which was covered with a foam blanket to lessen the ignitable vapors, Lykins said.

A trail of gasoline was visible on Kuntz Avenue, where the tanker truck was traveling before turning onto Air City Avenue. The truck driver stopped when he noticed the leak, Lykins said.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency responded, and an environmental cleanup company was called.

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