Quick action from bystanders at a three-vehicle accident on Interstate 25 on Thursday helped save the life of a truck driver, according to Ryan Thomas, a firefighter with Poudre Fire Authority who helped douse the blaze.
Shortly before 11:36 a.m., a passenger vehicle and two semis collided in a construction zone near exit 271 north of Fort Collins, Thomas said.
The third vehicle in the chain, a tractor-trailer packed with Dreyer’s ice cream, rear-ended another vehicle. The collision ruptured the truck’s fuel line.
“Bystanders pulled the driver from the vehicle after the accident,” said Thomas. “Kudos to those good Samaritans.”
The driver, whose name has not been released, was transported to a local hospital, said Thomas, with non-life-threatening injuries.
The semi was “fully engulfed” in flames, Colorado State Patrol spokesman Trooper Josh Lewis said.
The crash also started a small grass fire at the edge of the highway.
Southbound I-25 traffic was stopped for hours and then was slow going near the Anheuser-Busch plant while the diesel spill was cleaned up.
Traffic was diverted onto the frontage road, exiting at Mountain Vista and then routed back onto I-25.
After Poudre Fire Authority doused the flames, charred cartons of melting ice cream were still stacked high.
“Unfortunately, I did see several cartons of Rocky Road that we could not save, although I badly wanted to,” Thomas said. “The ice cream was a complete loss.”
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083, coconnor@denverpost.com or
