Section of I-95 collapses in Philadelphia after tanker truck fire
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Two firefighters look on at a collapsed portion of I-95 in Philadelphia on June 11, 2023. Photo: Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management
One section of Philadelphia's busy I-95 collapsed Sunday morning after a tanker truck "carrying a petroleum-based product" caught on fire underneath an overpass, officials said.
State of play: Traffic has been shut down along both sides of the interstate near the collapse and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a Sunday evening briefing "at least one vehicle is still trapped beneath the collapsed roadway." There were no immediate reports of injuries.
- There were no immediate plans to reopen the area and Shapiro said he intended to issue a disaster declaration on Monday in order to speed up federal funds.
- "The northbound side of I-95 has completely collapsed and the southbound side is not structurally sound to carry any traffic over it," Shapiro said.
- Officials were looking for "interim solutions to connect both sides of I-95 to get traffic through the area," but it'd take "some number of months" to rebuild the section, Shapiro added.
Driving the news: Dispatchers received a call about an accident around 6:22 a.m. Sunday, Philadelphia Fire Battalion Chief Derek Bowmer said.
- Upon arrival at the scene, firefighters saw a large fire underneath the overpass that was coming from a vehicle.
- The accident happened between Exit 32 for Academy Road and Exit 30 for Cottman Avenue, according to WPVI-TV.
- The Coast Guard confirmed Sunday afternoon that a tanker truck carrying around 8,500 gallons of 87 octane fuel had caught fire and a limited amount of the fuel had leaked into drainage that runs to the Delaware River.
- Ensign Josh Ledoux, a spokesperson for the Delaware Bay's Coast Guard, told the Washington Post that not much of the fuel had made it into the water.
- Ledoux said the Coast Guard was awaiting the arrival of an absorbent boom from New Jersey that will help soak up and contain any of the fuel.
Catch up fast: Officials have not confirmed what caused the accident, nor if the driver was injured.
- The incident was being treated as a hazmat situation, due to runoff from fuel, Bowmer said during a press conference.
- Southbound lanes at the accident site have also been compromised, Bowmer said. The Pennslyvania Department of Transportation said in a statement that the southbound lanes are "critical."
- Videos shared on social media show a plume of smoke rising above I-95 and large flames on both sides of the northbound overpass in the minutes before the interstate collapsed.
Worth noting: Northbound lanes between Exit 25 (Allegheny Avenue and Castor Avenue) and Exit 32 (Academy Road and Linden Avenue) are shut down, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
- Southbound lanes between Exit 32 and Exit 30 (Cottman Avenue and Rhawn Street) are also closed, PDOT said.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
