Tanker Fire Closes I-285 Lanes for Weeks

Several lanes on a section of I-285 north of Atlanta will be closed for three to six weeks for repairs after a fiery tanker truck crash last weekend.

Three eastbound lanes and one westbound lane of the interstate are closed to traffic while the overpass crossing Georgia 400 is repaired.
Trucker Jacob Phiri, driving for U.S. Fleet Services, was on his way from Marietta to the company's home office in Doraville at 2 a.m. Saturday, hauling 1,000 gallons of gasoline. He rounded a curve, and sitting in the middle of the road was a Toyota Tercel, left there after a minor accident. The car, sitting sideways, had neither headlights nor taillights pointing toward oncoming traffic, Phiri told The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. He tried to avoid the car and lost control of the tanker, which laid down on the driver's side and skidded for nearly 100 yards into a concrete barrier. Phiri escaped by breaking through the windshield, said the paper. He was only 20 yards away when the rig exploded.
The heat of the fire was so intense that it caused structural damage to the three inside lanes and the barrier wall. Steel beams that buckled under the heat must be repaired or replaced. Melted asphalt must be repaved.