Police not yet releasing identity of driver from fatal tanker crash

Mar. 6—Police said they have not officially confirmed the identity of a driver killed when his fuel tanker overturned on U.S. 15, hit a tree and caught fire on Saturday.

Maryland State Police are still waiting on autopsy results to confirm the driver's identity, spokesman Ron Snyder said.

There were no other deaths or injuries, state police said. One family was displaced after their house had significant fire damage.

Just before noon on Saturday, a tanker was going north on U.S. 15 when it overturned between Rosemont Avenue and 7th Street, hit a tree, and exploded. It held roughly 8,650 gallons of fuel, authorities said.

The tanker was a CLI Transport fuel truck, according to a statement from John Tippery, CLI Transport president. The company is a fuel hauler for Sheetz, he said in his statement.

This tanker was taking fuel to a local Sheetz location, Tippery said.

Tippery said CLI Transport and Sheetz are working closely with local officials and organizations to help the community.

"Both CLI Transport and Sheetz are fully cooperating with state police who are investigating this accident as well as working closely with the Maryland Department of the Environment and local officials to ensure a safe and environmentally responsible clean up," he said.

Six homes and five vehicles were damaged after the crash, state police said on Saturday.

Most of the homes were in the 500 block of Apple Avenue, which is parallel to U.S. 15. A thin strip of vegetation separates the road from the highway.

The fuel from the tanker leaked along U.S. 15, causing a "large brush fire" along the highway, Frederick County Fire Chief Tom Coe said during a press conference on Saturday.

It flowed all the way to the area of the intersection of Rosemont Avenue and 2nd Street.

It additionally went into the stormwater drains, but the spread was contained by Saturday afternoon. It did not make it into Carroll Creek, officials said.

Officials on Saturday said the fuel did not make it into drinking water and that there was no immediate threat to the public.

Bob Swann, a haz-mat response supervisor with the Maryland Department of the Environment's emergency response team, said they were working on sucking out the fuel from the stormwater drains on Saturday.

By Saturday night, vacuum trucks recovered remaining fuel from the tanker, along with firefighting foam and water, MDE spokesman Jay Apperson wrote in an email Monday.

Two storm drains near the crash were flushed to remove any remaining fuel, and MDE supplied absorbents that were placed at the end of the stormwater system. They will remain there until after it rains, to ensure all of the fuel is out of the system, he wrote.

Apperson wrote that MDE expects there will be a need to clean the soil at the crash site.

"MDE will continue to monitor and oversee progress through the remediation process," he wrote.

Around noon on Saturday, Fire and Rescue began receiving multiple reports of a vehicle fire on U.S. 15, north of Rosemont Avenue.

Firefighters found an overturned tanker truck on fire. It had hit a tree, which was also on fire. Across the street, another home was on fire and flames were threatening other nearby homes.

Fire and Rescue also received another call for a house fire on the 500 block of Schley Avenue, on the other side of U.S. 15, past the southbound lanes.

The fires were contained within 40 minutes, and the fuel in the stormwater system was contained by 3:15 p.m., authorities said.

Follow Clara Niel on Twitter: @clarasniel