Lexington, Neb. — A semi rolled back into a fuel tank at Nebraskaland Truck and Travel Center south of the Lexington I-80 Interchange, causing an estimated 10,000 gallon gasoline leak that prompted the evacuation of the immediate area Tuesday night. The leak occurred around 5:15 p.m.
Lexington Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Dahlas Holbein says the truck backed through a retaining structure and struck a fitting on the bottom of the holding tank, causing it to leak gasoline. Holbein says the fire departments response was aimed at keeping a bad situation from getting worse….
“Certainly it could have been a lot worse…I mean obviously we all know how flammable gasoline is…Ive personally never dealt with a spill of that size by any means. So I feel it definitely could have been much worse if there had been a spark…so our primary assumption was to suppress it what we could with some foaming agent to try to limit the flammability, which we did, and then just notify people and evacuate the closest area.”
Holbein says the goal was to avoid having an ignition source that could cause a major fire or explosion. Holbein says anytime you have an incident like this, with no injuries, he considers it a success, but he says there will be a considerable amount of cleanup. Travis Wright, Vice President of Nebraskaland Tire Group was asked what the next step is?
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Wright says he imagines insurance companies for both parties will come to some kind of resolution. He agrees that the spill left quite a mess, but is thankful there were no injuries. Wright estimates about 10,000 gallons of gas leaked out of the tank.
