Montana open to drivers as crashed propane tanker burns
Some good news for residents of Hudspeth County.
El Paso county deputies and TXDOT workers will be escorting drivers past a roadblock on Montana avenue or Highway 180/62 into Hudspeth county this morning.
TxDOT workers are escorting drivers past the roadblock.
The roadblock was set up after a large tanker truck crashed and spilled more than nine thousand gallons of fuel. The road has been closed between Hueco Tanks and the Hudspeth county line since Thursday afternoon.
The closure has continued because part of the fuel is still burning.
“We have TxDOT employees escorting people eastbound, and then we have them escorting people westbound,” said Sheriff deputy James Nance,
A tanker crashed and started burning on Thanksgiving and El Paso County Sheriff’s Office had shut down the highway until Saturday. Now it’s reduced to a single lane, txdot escorts there to prevent head-on collisions.
While there’s no big risk of explosion, drivers will still see flames as they pass by the area.
“If you put the fire out and the gas is flowing out like it is, it would pool toward the ground and travel just as water would and go toward the low areas,” said Montana Vista Fire Chief Roland Glidden.
“If there’s any residents or ignition sources it would be catastrophic. It’s best at this time that it’s on fire that we let it burn out.”
Firefighters are even using water to warm up the propane tank and help it burn faster. With the highway now open as firefighters control the burning crash site, holiday weekend travelers won’t have to avoid the area.
“You don’t need a detour. If you’re coming eastbound on Montana and you’re gonna take highway 62/180 out to Carlsbad, you’re gonna expect about a 10-15 minute delay, but it’s not much. Once you’re out of El Paso county it’s cleared up,” Nance said.
