Deepa BharathA fully loaded gardening truck towing...

Deepa Bharath

A fully loaded gardening truck towing a wood chipper rolled down and

plunged into a ravine Thursday morning, threatening to leak fuel into

the bay, officials said.

No one was hurt in the incident that occurred at about 11:25 a.m.

The Hazardous Materials Team from the Orange County Fire Authority

contained the leak, preventing the fuel from going into the bay, said

Donna Boston, spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Fire Department.

The truck had been parked on Jamboree Road while workers were

trimming trees and loading branches into the chipper, she said. It

rolled off and landed in the ravine south of Eastbluff, she said.

“This was a large truck loaded with a lot of branches, leaves and

wood pieces,” Boston said.

The truck was parked downhill with the brake on. It probably

rolled off the street because it was too heavy, she said.

“We don’t know what exactly caused it to roll down,” Boston said.

The firefighters’ immediate concern was the leaking fuel, she

said.

“That truck had 30 gallons of fuel in it, so it had the potential

to be disastrous,” Boston said. “It was also very lucky no one got

hurt.”

The Department of Fish and Game was also called out to confirm

that no damage had been done.

It took three large tow trucks to pull out the gardening truck

from the ravine, Boston said.

“That’s how heavy the truck was,” she said. “If someone has been

in the truck or if someone had been hit, it could have been pretty

bad.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.