Semi Carrying Oil Overturns On Creek Turnpike, Burns Driver

A thousand gallons of hot oil spilled onto the Creek Turnpike Wednesday. The semi hauling the oil, overturned and now the Oklahoma driver is severely burned, fighting for his life.

Cleanup from the accident shut down lanes almost all day and required a HAZMAT team to dig a trench in the median of the Creek Turnpike near 31st Street to stop the oil from spreading.

10/1/2014 Related Story: Overturned Semi Spills Oil On Creek Turnpike

The workers had to be extremely careful because the oil, which burned the semi-truck driver, is stored at 800 degrees.

A big streak of black, hot asphalt oil gushed from the semi-truck, carrying 6,000 gallons of the grease.

Captain Stan May with the Tulsa Fire Department said, "We're going to keep it right here in the ditch. They'll remove all the oil they can, and any dirt that's contaminated they'll have to dig it up and haul it off also."

A thousand gallons of oil covered the Creek Turnpike near 31st Street around 11:00 Wednesday morning, when the truck driver drove out of the southbound lanes, and into the median.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Captain George Brown said, "He blacked out, or passed out, and didn't remember anything until he was burned and was actually helped out of his vehicle by a passerby."

OHP said the driver, 70-year-old Larry Crossland of Poteau, overcorrected, causing a weight shift in the tank. Cable barriers prevented the truck from what might have been a head-on collision with oncoming traffic.

"Kept the vehicle from entering the northbound lanes. It did its jobs. We're very fortunate for that,” said Brown.

The cables didn't save Crossland, oil seeped into the cab, severely burning most of his body.

"Extremely burned and injured from the crash, but he was giving investigators pieces of information,” said Brown.

An ambulance rushed the driver to Hillcrest, while a HAZMAT team worked to keep the oil contained.

"Take that oil up and remove the dirt that it's contaminated,” May said.

We do not know which company owns the semi-truck.

OHP said the driver has injuries from the head down, both internal and external, and is in critical condition.