Tanker truck crash & fire kills man, closes highway in Johnston County
A man is dead after a tanker truck crash on Tuesday in Johnston County.
According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the crash happened in the Wilson's Mills community on NC 39 near Meadowbrook Lane.
Sky 5 flew over the scene. The truck appeared to have caught on fire at some point after crashing into a sedan on the highway. People who live near the area, like Matt Gore, said they'd never seen anything like it.
"I told my wife, 'I think it's a house fire,' but now that I'm over here, I can tell it's a whole different story," he said.
Multiple firefighters responded to the crash. Antioch Fire Chief Kendall Hocutt said there was a large fire in the woods near the crash, but firefighters were able to control it before it spread further.
"We were able to control it with foam," he said. "We had dykes in place with sand and dykes in the ditches to try to control the runoff."
According to Hocutt, the driver of the truck survived, but the driver of the sedan died from their injuries.
NC 39 and Meadowbrook Lane will be closed for several hours. Hocutt said once the scene is cleared, NC DOT and Environmental Services will evaluate the cleanup needed due to the gasoline runoff from the crash.
