HAZMAT crews cleans up after spill

At 5:43 p.m. Tuesday, an eastbound Ford Ranger driven by Donald Lee Duncan Jr., 56, of Paradise, struck a semi on South Avenue east of Highway 99W.

The 2003 Freightliner semitruck, driven by Kenon Scott Timmons, of Georgia, was pulling out of the Petro diesel fuel islands onto South Avenue when the vehicle was struck by the pickup, said Corning Police Sgt. Ralph Schmidt.

The impact caused a diesel fuel leak to the semi's fuel tank, requiring a response from a HAZMAT team, Ben's Trucking out of Red Bluff, to clean up the spill. Duncan was transported by ambulance to St. Elizabeth Community Hospital with complaints of pain, said Schmidt. Neither Timmons nor a female passenger in his rig were injured.

The eastbound lane of South Avenue at the crash site was closed to traffic for more than two hours while the spill was contained and removed.