BOONSBORO, VIRGINIA — A tanker trailer carrying just over 22 tons of sodium hydroxide destined for the Lynchburg City Water Treatment Plant overturned into a dry creek bed on Perch Road at Holcomb Rock Road in the Boonsboro area Friday afternoon, triggering a multi-agency hazmat response that stretched from Danville and Roanoke to the state level and kept the road closed until just before 11 p.m.
Company 3 Boonsboro was alerted at 1:13 p.m. of a single tractor-trailer rollover with unknown injuries. The driver was out of the vehicle and uninjured when crews arrived. A size-up found the tractor-trailer on its side in the dry creek bed with the load resting on the road and in the ditch line. While fluids were leaking from the tractor’s engine and diesel fuel tanks, the tanker trailer carrying sodium hydroxide — a highly caustic chemical classified as UN 1824 — was not compromised and showed no leaks.
Hazmat 1 was requested. Heavy Rescue 3 was assigned to dam and dike the fluid leaks from the road tractor. Bedford County Emergency Manager responded and contacted the Virginia Emergency Operations Center to bring in state hazmat teams. The shipper was contacted and an empty tanker designed to carry sodium hydroxide was dispatched from Durham, North Carolina. Regional hazmat teams responded from both the Danville and Roanoke regions.
Once all agencies arrived, a full briefing took place before the transfer operation began. The Danville regional hazmat team supplied a specialized pump capable of handling the chemical. The Roanoke regional team created ventilation and access points on the overturned tanker, then ran a stinger line to pump off the remaining chemical. Rescue 3 provided a handline and rapid intervention team throughout the operation. Once the load was successfully transferred to the sound tanker, all personnel in personal protective equipment were decontaminated.
Bee Line Towing then uprighted the damaged tractor-trailer — after first evacuating the diesel fuel tanks from the road tractor for safety — and towed the equipment to a local holding facility. VDOT reopened the road just before 11 p.m. Virginia State Police are investigating the crash.
Company 3 called it a textbook example of multi-agency teamwork. “Tonight was nothing short of what commitment, dedication and teamwork look like to keep everyone on scene safe, ensure the environmental safety for the land and residents around, along with the seamless teamwork by first responders from all areas across the state.”
A special thank you was extended to Bedford County Emergency Manager for providing pizzas to crews on scene.
Units operating included C3, R3, E3, U3, A2-1, County 3, EM1, FM1, FM5, Virginia State Police, VDEM Hazmat, Roanoke Regional Hazmat, Danville Regional Hazmat, Bee Line Towing, and VDOT.
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