Semi-Truck Loses Fuel Tank, Route 126 Closed For Cleanup: PFD

PLAINFIELD, IL — A semi-truck lost its fuel tank driving on Route 126, near the intersection of Route 59, Monday morning. Northbound lanes will be closed until further cleanup is finished, and "it'll be a while," according to Fire Chief Jon Stratton.

The Plainfield Fire Protection District received a call about the lost diesel tank at about 8:30 a.m. Plainfield police are currently working on rerouting traffic, Stratton told Patch.

"Anything going north of 126 shut down right now, so drivers need to plan around that," he said.

Authorities don't know what caused of the problem, but Stratton is speculating it was a maintenance issue.

"The whole tank fell off," he said. "As far as the quantity of fuel, we're not sure how much fuel spilled, but we have quite a large quantity."

Since the tank fell before fire crews arrived, some traffic drove through the spill prior to the road closing, which will cause additional cleanup work, according to the chief.

Stratton said an Illinois Department of Transportation team is on its way to clean up the mess, a process that will partly involve using sand to soak up the oil.

"Even after the cleanup, it’s going to be slick in that area because of the diesel spill," he said.