Fuel tanker crash closes BC Highway 37

I was driving north on Highway 37 (the Stewart-Cassiar) yesterday evening, heading home from Telegraph Creek, but 5 miles from the Alaska Highway junction, got stopped by a fuel tanker wreck. It had apparently happened at about 5:30, and I got there an hour later. Traffic is light on that road so only about 20 vehicles were trapped at that point, mostly northbound. Just after 8:00 pm a handful of small cars were let through (including me with my Outback), then the police seem to have gotten nervous about the possibility of an explosion as fuel was pumped into another tanker, so the road was closed and barricaded. It appeared that at least 50 vehicles of all types were going to have to spend the night there – no big deal for semis and RVs but a rather uncomfortable night for those in cars.

In the first photo below you can see what caused the crash (in my opinion) – the road narrows dramatically, and there are no warning signs about it. The driver yanked the truck over at the last second, the wheels of the pup trailer went over the side and started it swaying, and over she went.

I’ll tell you lots more about the trip tonight (I took the advance people for the upcoming Billy Connolly travel film shoot down there).