Hazmat teams were called out for a major crash Thursday morning, causing a lengthy clean up near Old Stagecoach Road at the bottom of the Cuesta Grade. The crash left southbound Highway 101 travelers in traffic for hours.
According to the CHP two trucks were involved one of them rolled, spilling an estimated 75 gallons of diesel onto the road.
The CHP says the drivers Gary Brennan and Jerell Cryer needed to be extracted from their trucks. Both were sent to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center with major injuries.
Students on their way to class at Cuesta College were among many people stuck in traffic, they say they were at a complete stand-still for hours.
“Traffic was like building up all the way from Atascadero," Paso Robles resident Jacob Santangelo said. "We were just sitting there for two hours. Like, dead stop, not moving.”
The crash at the bottom of the Cuesta Grade happened just before 6:45 am on Thursday. One of the two trucks involved rolled, spilling an estimated 75 gallons of diesel onto the road.
That prompted a response from the Cal Fire Hazmat unit and the local Environmental Health Agency. The spill was eventually cleaned up and cleared from the road around noon. Officials say none of the fuel reached anywhere near habitats or water that could cause harm.
The abrupt halt in traffic, and the closing of two lanes, almost caused more accidents.
“It's really wild when you go from three lanes to one lane in a short amount of time," Atascadero resident Carter Paisano said. "That was something that was a little wild because the bus driver had to quickly get over the all the way to the left.”
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
