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HEBER CITY — A double tanker truck rolled on U.S. 40 Friday night in Daniels Canyon, spilling 12,000 gallons of crude oil and catching fire.
The driver of the tanker truck drifted off the right side of the road and onto the soft shoulder about 9:45 p.m., Utah Highway Patrol trooper Michael Phillips said. When the truck rolled into the hillside, its second trailer jack-knifed, Phillips said.
The driver was not hurt and was able to get out of the truck, the trooper said.
"The vehicle, being full of crude oil, ignited and there was a big blaze," Phillips said. "The vehicle was a complete loss."
The crash and fire closed the highway in both directions about 4 miles east of Heber City for nearly 12 hours. Crews continued to clean up the site Saturday, Phillips said.
"There is some damage to part of the roadway up there as well," the trooper said.
Utah Department of Transportation spokesman Adan Carrillo said only one lane of U.S. 40 would be open in Daniels Canyon this weekend, due to road damage and the environmental cleanup effort. However, road crews were able to get two lanes open, one in each direction, by Saturday evening.
Once the environmental cleanup is finished, UDOT will assess how best to repair the damage to the road based on existing temperatures and weather conditions, Carrillo said.
"We will definitely put (the road) back to the way it was," he said, "but it could take some time."
