Tanker overturns, spills gas and closes street

Authorities had to close a portion of Gothard Street Monday morning after a tanker truck overturned and spilled about 50 gallons of gas.

Shortly before 2:30 a.m., the tanker, which was being moved by a tow truck, came loose when a hitch in the tow truck broke near the intersection of Gothard and Talbert Avenue. Deputy Fire Marshall Jeff Lopez said the tanker rolled to a stop by the curb and didn’t appear to have hit anything else.

The city brought in a hazmat team, which drilled a hole through the tanker and pumped its contents into another tanker.

Of the approximately 50 gallons of gasoline that spilled onto the street, about 10 gallons got into a nearby storm drain, but public works officials were able to contain them, Lopez said.

— Michael Miller