Northbound I-15 closed for hours after rollover created a hazmat situation

BOUNTIFUL, Utah — A spill on Interstate 15 Sunday morning closed northbound lanes of the freeway for hours.

Utah Highway Patrol Sergeant Nick Street said he was entering I-15 North around 8:00 Sunday morning when he felt the ground rumble. As he approached the top of the on-ramp, he saw a trailer on its side on the right shoulder of the freeway.

“I saw a big cloud of dust and vapor coming off of this overturned semi trailer,” Street said.

Street said a semi-truck hauling two trailers of calcium chloride had lost one of its trailers. That trailer ended up crashing and flipping on the side of the freeway. The driver stopped safely further up the road.

Calcium chloride, Street said, is a concentrated type of salt that can be irritating if it is not diluted. He said he had some lung irritation when he initially approached the trailer.

UHP called out a hazmat crew to dilute the calcium chloride that had spilled onto the freeway and to offload what was left in the trailer before clearing the scene.

The northbound lanes of I-15 between 500 South and Parrish Lane were closed until 2:00 Sunday afternoon. Traffic was diverted off the freeway onto Legacy Parkway.

No one was injured in the incident, although Street said some people who drove through before the road was shut down may experience some effects.

“There were some vehicles initially that drove through it right after the crash happened. For those people, they may have some skin or eye irritation and possibly some lung irritation, but it should subside. If it doesn’t, they need to seek the help of a physician,” he said.

Police are still looking into why the trailer came loose. Street said speed or mechanical failure could have been factors.