Fiery Crash Collapses Bay Area Freeway

[tcrashfx]

Apr 30, 12:45 AM (ET)

By MARCUS WOHLSEN

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - A gasoline tanker crashed and burst into flames near the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on Sunday, creating such intense heat that a stretch of highway melted and collapsed. Officials predicted a traffic nightmare for Bay Area commuters for weeks or months to come.

Flames shot 200 feet in the air, but the truck's driver walked away from the scene with second-degree burns. No other injuries were reported in the 3:45 a.m. crash, which officials said could have been deadly had it occurred at a busier time.

"I've never seen anything like it," Officer Trent Cross of the California Highway Patrol said of the crumpled interchange. "I'm looking at this thinking, 'Wow, no one died' - that's amazing. It's just very fortunate."

Authorities said the damage could take months to repair, and that it would cause the worst disruption for Bay Area commuters since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged a section of the Bay Bridge itself.

apnews.myway.com/article/20070430/D8OQN9G00.html

[kroisis]

tcrashfx said:

...Authorities said the damage could take months to repair, and that it would cause the worst disruption for Bay Area commuters since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged a section of the Bay Bridge itself.

I remember seeing land waves rolling through parking lots during Loma Prieta.
I was in Monterey at the time.

I don't like it when the ground moves without my permission.

Footage of the recent devastation here:
www.liveleak.com/view?i=0f7_1177918905