Big rig goes off Highway 99, nearly crashes into Ceres fire station

A big-rig driver escaped serious injury after going off northbound Highway 99 between Ceres and Modesto and missing Ceres Fire Station No. 2 by inches Tuesday morning. The crash spilled diesel fuel and broke a water pump, but the water supply was not contaminated, an official said.

The crash occurred about 7:30 a.m. on Bystrum Road at Pecos Avenue. The driver hit an electrical box and a city of Modesto well pump next to the fire station, said Ceres Fire Department Capt. Jeff Serpa. He also plowed into a firefighter’s parked car.

The crash ruptured the truck’s two diesel fuel saddle tanks, Serpa said. One was torn from the truck and spilled all its fuel, while the other lost about half. About 150 gallons of diesel spilled, mixing with water coming up from the broken well pump at about 200 to 300 gallons a minute, Serpa said.

“What worked in our favor was that all the runoff was contained in the detention pond at Aeron Street and Pecos,” just a 10th of a mile east, he said.

Another plus was that the pump was backfeeding from wells in the area, so no diesel got into the wells, Serpa said. A valve beneath the street was shut off, so the water supply was not contaminated, he said. Water and power service to the neighborhood was interrupted only briefly.

Shortly after the crash, the California Highway Patrol taped off the area and warned that the water flowing from the pump might have been electrified. “Because it hit the power box, we err on the side of caution until TID (Turlock Irrigation District), the experts, show up,” Serpa said.

The station was empty because firefighters were out on a call, he said. Though the station would be without power until the big rig was moved, it would remain in service, he said.

Agencies working together at the scene included the Ceres and Modesto fire departments, the California Highway Patrol, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, TID, the state Department of Environmental Resources and the Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services.

The driver suffered only minor injuries and was taken by ambulance to a hospital as a precaution, Serpa said. What caused him to lose control of his truck had not been determined, he said.

The truck was hauling 40,000 pounds of almonds, Serpa said. The trailer remained intact, with no apparent spill or fire damage.

This story was originally published December 6, 2016 at 7:49 AM with the headline "Big rig goes off Highway 99, nearly crashes into Ceres fire station."