Cleanup underway after tanker fuel spill near Kittredge

Cleanup efforts are underway after a tanker carrying 8,300 gallons of fuel overturned on Kerr Gulch Road near Kittredge on July 6. The driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, and it is not known how much fuel leaked out, though it doesn’t appear to be extensive, according to Evergreen Fire/Rescue.

Crews from Evergreen Fire/Rescue and West Metro Fire with help from the Evergreen Metro District and Denver Water were on scene all night, emptying the tanker. A tow truck uprighted the truck at around 8 a.m. July 7, and it took time to turn the semi around so it could be towed northbound on Kerr Gulch Road to Evergreen Parkway. 

Stacee Martin, an EFR spokeswoman, said the semi was traveling southbound on Kerr Gulch Road and overturned into a ditch near High Road and South Piney Ridge Road. The truck driver told her he had moved the truck to the shoulder to allow a car to pass, and the soft shoulder gave way, rolling the truck. It landed in a gulley with a nearby small temporary creek that currently has water flowing there. 

An environmental team provided by Offen Petroleum put booms near the crash site and further below the site, said Martin, who observed that the booms near the crash had turned brown, showing they were picking up the fuel, and the booms further below remained white.

The Canyon Courier reached out to Offen Petroleum for more information, but the company has not yet responded.

Evergreen Fire/Rescue received the call at 7:56 p.m. July 6, and it immediately contacted West Metro Fire, which has an expert hazardous materials team, to help at the scene, Martin said. The fuel spill came from a saddle tank, not the main tank, but crews emptied all five compartments, she said. 

“This is not a normal call for us, and we hit the button to get the cavalry going,” Martin said. “We worked together as a team.”

The West Metro hazardous materials team drilled holes into each compartment, sucked the fuel out of the tanks and then plugged the holes so nothing would leak out once the truck was upright, she said. Evergreen Fire/Rescue had fire trucks and firefighters on scene in case sparks from the drill caused a fire. The fuel was offloaded into another tanker.

“It was a slow process,” she said. “They grounded the equipment and the tanker to make sure there were no sparks, but we were ready just in case.”

Martin said she didn’t know why the truck driver was traveling down Kerr Gulch Road, which is steep and winding near Kittredge.

According to Evergreen Fire/Rescue, Colorado State Patrol is investigating the crash.

Martin added that the incident was a great opportunity for Evergreen firefighters to work with the West Metro team.

“The good news is nobody got hurt, and it was a great team effort,” she added.

She also thanked neighbors who were very forgiving of the lights, noise and blocked road all night and into the morning.