A portion of the southbound 5 freeway about one mile from Crown Valley Parkway in Mission Viejo was closed after a 2,500-gallon tanker truck carrying propane rolled over.
About 1:30 p.m., tow trucks were hoisting up the truck from a few feet down in a grassy creek bed. The freeway had to be shut down briefly as firefighters worked to get the truck back up after an 8:30 a.m. crash, said Capt. Larry Kurtz of the Orange County Fire Authority.
The driver was taken to a hospital as a trauma patient, but his injuries were not life-threatening. It’s unclear what prompted the truck to roll over.
HazMat crews were on scene because of some leakage from the tank. They used a freeze wrap to quell the leak, Kurtz said. A towel or fabric wrap is soaked and then wrapped around the leaking valve or pipe. The wet cloth freezes due to the propane liquid’s low temperature halting the active flow.
There was no major spill, and the leak was contained to the grassy area on the side of the road, Kurtz said.