DELAND -- A tanker truck rolled over early Friday on the eastbound exit of State Road 44 off Interstate 4, forcing the shutdown of lanes on both sides well into the day as clean-up crews dealt with 3,800 gallons of spilled disel fuel, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.
The tanker hit his brakes suddenly when traffic slowed in front of him at 4:15 a.m., causing the tanker to jackknife near a retention pond. Because of the heavy fume smell, troopers closed all four lanes of I-4 for eight hours to allow clean-up crews to deal with the spill.
According to the FHP, traffic was snarled throughout the county because of the back-up, with Bike Week adding to the 54,500 vehicles that normally use the interstate on a given day.
The $90,000 tanker truck, owned by Eagle Transport of Rocky Mount, N.C., was driven by Ronnie Harrison, 49, of St. Petersburg, the highway patrol said. No charges were filed against the driver transported to Florida Hospital DeLand with cracked ribs as well as cuts and bruises.