Fire, HAZMAT crews respond to propane truck rollover in Houston

As temperatures continue to hover the mid to upper 30s then tease with lows just under freezing, roads, specifically secondary roads resemble ice rinks, and may have led to a propane truck sliding off the road in Houston.

Just before noon on Wednesday, the Houston Fire Department (HFD) was dispatched to reported rollover accident involving a commercial propane truck on King Arthur Drive near White Rabbit, resulting in road closures while the HFD and HAZMAT secure the scene.

Upon arrival, HFD crews found that a Suburban Propane truck carrying fuel, had slid off the road and tipped onto its side, but did not roll over. It was laying on its side in an unsecured manner.

Residents were alerted to the accident and advised to avoid the area amid reports that the vehicle, capable of carrying 6,000 gallons of propane, was leaking after the rollover.

“No fuel from the truck nor propane from the 3,000 gallon tank leaked out at any time,” Christian Hartley, Director of Public Safety for the City of Houston reported, adding that the residential road was closed to access surrounding the accident area for three hours to allow tow operators adequate time to safely mitigate the hazard and upright the vehicle.

Hartley said that the driver was the only occupant was able to self-extricate from the vehicle and was uninjured.

A company representative from Suburban Propane responded to the scene to help HFD with hazard mitigation. Hartley reports that the road was reopened once cleanup operations were completed.