Overturned Tanker Brings 405 To A Crawl

LOS ANGELES, CA — A fiery big rig crash hurt three people and left thousands of people stranded for hours in the San Fernando Valley or the Westside Monday while crews worked to clear the San Diego (405) Freeway.

One person was trapped and two people were critically hurt when a tanker overturned pouring fuel and a load of gravel across all northbound lanes of the roadway at Mulholland Drive. The person pinned beneath the truck was pulled to safety by a bystander before fire crews arrived.

The crash was reported on the hill north of Mulholland Drive at about 2:50 p.m., snarling traffic as far away as LAX and Woodland Hills. Seven of the 405's 12 lanes were closed through nearly all of the evening rush hour, as Caltrans workers grappled with tons of concrete chunks held together with rebar streel, a burned-out truck with a wreck car under it, and a demolished concrete center divider.

Shortly after 6 p.m., southbound lanes were reopened, with the exception of the carpool lane.

The truck had been hauling waste gravel and building debris, and it collided with a car and overturned on top of the vehicle, according to the California Highway Patrol. The collision sparked a fire that burned both vehicles.

Two patients in critical condition were transported for hospital treatment, as was a third person with moderate injuries, Bastman said.

The crash shut down the left three lanes on the northbound 405, and the left four lanes on the southbound side, prompting the CHP to issue a SigAlert at 3:08 p.m., Officer Stephan Brandt said.

Canyon roads across the Hollywood Hills quickly jammed, as did Pacific Coast Highway. Freeways that cross the 405 -- the Ventura (101) Freeway in the Valley and the Santa Monica (10) Freeway on the Westside -- also were backed up.

The Sepulveda Pass section of the 405 carries 295,000 cars per day, and has been called the busiest freeway link between approximate halves of any major American city.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.