Truck Overturns In Arizona, Spills Nitric Acid, Shelter-In-Place Reinstated

An emergency shelter-in-place was reinstated Wednesday for nearby residents in Tucson, Arizona, after a truck carrying nitric acid overturned on Feb. 14, killing the driver.

“Unified Command has reinstated the shelter-in-place order for a one-mile perimeter around the incident. While crews were attempting to remove the load from the commercial vehicle, gassing occurred. Interstate 10 remains closed in both directions between Kolb & Rita roads in Tucson,” the AZ Department of Public Safety wrote in a Wednesday update.

Residents were warned to avoid the area and seek alternate routs of travel, while anyone within a one-mile perimeter of the incident has been instructed to turn off air conditioning and heaters in order to avoid bringing in outside air.

UPDATE – Everyone in the area is advised to turn off heaters, air conditioning units and other equipment that may bring outside air in after truck flipped resulting in nitric acid spill pic.twitter.com/SqZsWfE1ww

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) February 15, 2023

As Mimi Nguyen Ly of the The Epoch Times notes further,

Following a crash, a commercial truck tanker overturned on the Interstate 10 highway eastbound between Rita and Kolb roads, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

“The tanker involved in this collision was hauling nitric acid in liquid form,” the Arizona DPS announced on Twitter of the HAZMAT spill.

Footage of the crash posted on Twitter showed reddish-orange mist emanating from an overturned truck tanker. The post was accompanied by a message: “be safe everyone, don’t [breathe] this in.”

Liquid nitric acid is a highly corrosive substance, described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a “colorless liquid with yellow or red fumes with an acrid odor.”

In vapor or mist form, it can cause burning sensations to the eyes, nose, skin, and lungs. Exposure to high concentrations of this can cause pneumonitis, bronchitis, and/or pulmonary edema, which can be fatal. These symptoms can be delayed from 4 to 30 hours after exposure. Furthermore, teeth can erode when exposed to the vapor or mist form of nitric acid.

The Arizona Department of Transport (DOT) announced the crash around 3 p.m. local time. By 5:09 p.m., the Arizona DPS said the tanker was leaking hazardous material.

“Interstate 10 remains closed in both directions between Rita and Kolb roads in Tucson,” per the Arizona DPS. “Motorists should continue to avoid the area and seek an alternate route.” The DPS added in a Twitter post: “We anticipate an extensive closure. Please avoid the area.”

Meanwhile, the Arizona DOT said that there is “no estimated time to reopen the road.”

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