Big-Rig Fire Creates Traffic Inferno

Sig-Alert in effect for hours

North County drivers watched in vain for as much as an hour while a tractor trailer hauling textiles caught on fire and burned.

The incident began at about 4:30 a.m. on Interstate 5 north of La Costa Avenue in Carlsbad. The truck hit a guard rail, igniting the fire, according to the California Highway Patrol. The vehicle traveled about 500 feet before it stopped. The CHP arrived a short time later and shut down the No. 3 and No. 4 lanes.

The incident was further complicated when the big rig began to spill fluid, which officials feared would leak into a nearby lagoon. A hazardous-materials team was sent out, as were officials from the Department of Environmental Quality. Sixty gallons of diesel fuel spilled, some of it possibly making its way into Bataquitos Lagoon.

"They did the best they could to dam it." said Eric Newbury with Oceanside CHP.  "We've contained a lot of it but I'm afraid some has gone into the lagoon."

Traffic backed up to Birmingham Drive. A Sig-Alert was in the region was expected to last for several hours, possibly into th afternoon.

The driver was uninjured in the single-vehicle wreck, according to the CHP.

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