Tractor-trailer flips on freeway

9/10/2001

Southbound I-280 was closed for roughly 16 hours from I-75 to Starr Avenue after a tractor-trailer slammed into a metal guardrail, flipped on its side, and exploded early yesterday just south of Front Street.

City and state highway officials were called to the scene about 2:40 a.m. when the flatbed truck, transporting particle board to Vermont, hit the right metal railing and then bounced back left into a concrete barrier, said Jon Gulch of Toledo's division of environmental services.

The interstate reopened about 8 last night.

The truck turned into a fireball, melting the tires and its fiberglass body. The truck's driver, whom police identified as Eric Amos, 36, was treated at Riverside Mercy Hospital.

Mr. Amos apparently walked to the hospital after the accident. Charges against him are pending, according to police.

Craig S. Schneiderbauer, a transportation administrator with the Ohio Department of Transportation, said Mr. Amos was traveling an estimated 60 miles per hour, 15 miles faster than the posted 45 miles per hour in the freeway construction zone.

The accident happened where crews are widening I-280 to six lanes to accommodate the new Maumee River bridge.

Mr. Schneiderbauer said workers from Miller Brothers Construction had to take off about a half-inch of pavement at the accident scene because oil and diesel fuel had seeped into the roadway, making it unsafe for driving.

Mr. Gulch said construction workers removed soil along the freeway that was contaminated by fuel and oil. Northbound traffic was stopped for about 11/2 hours after the accident.