At approximately 11:50 a.m. on Tuesday morning, February 19, the Forney Fire and Police Departments responded to an 18-wheeler accident on eastbound US Highway 80 just east of FM 460.
At approximately 11:50 a.m. on Tuesday morning, February 19, the Forney Fire and Police Departments responded to an 18-wheeler accident on eastbound US Highway 80 just east of FM 460.
According to Forney Fire Department Chief Rick Townsend, the 18-wheeler made contact with the US Highway 80 bridge guardrail and ruptured the fuel tank. The 18-wheeler then veered off of the highway, through the ditch dividing the highway and the service road, and settled onto the service road before catching fire.
The driver of the 18-wheeler was treated on the scene for non-life threatening injuries and transported to Texas Regional Medical Center at Sunnyvale. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.
The accident had the service road on the south side of US Highway 80 closed for several hours while crews worked to extinguish the fire and clear the 18-wheeler's trailer from the ditch. One lane of US Highway 80 was also closed while HAZMAT crews cleaned up the diesel fuel spilled by the 18-wheeler.
Earlier Tuesday morning, there was another minor vehicle accident on westbound US Highway 80 near FM 460 that caused delays of 30-40 minutes and backed up traffic to FM 548 at times. No major injuries were reported for that accident either.
