(CNN) Arizona officials reopened Interstate 10 in Tucson on Wednesday in both directions, lifting evacuation and shelter-in-place orders after a dangerous spill of liquid nitric acid closed the road.
A commercial truck crash forced authorities to close part of the highway on Tuesday, and the closure continued on Wednesday as cleanup operations were underway. The Arizona Department of Public Safety announced Wednesday night that the safety measures are no longer in effect.
“The public may resume normal activities,” the DPS said.
Evacuation and shelter-in-place orders were issued for the area surrounding the spill, which were lifted on Wednesday.
Police said the truck driver died in the accident, but his identity has not been released.
The Pima County Department of Health and the Arizona Poison Information Center provide guidance Encourage residents who may have been exposed to the spill for at least 15 minutes to assess their exposure.
“The gassing occurred while the crew was attempting to remove cargo from the commercial vehicle,” the DPS said. news release.
“Hazardous material collection and mitigation efforts were temporarily set back overnight due to the weather,” officials said in an update.
Sean Bilkey was driving east on Interstate 10 near the Rita Road exit Tuesday after his truck overturned. (Reverse the order of bottomed graphs)
Bilkey said the orange gas coming out of an overturned tractor-trailer loaded with liquid nitric acid smelled like smoke, but “it wasn’t fire smoke, it was just nasty.”
“Traffic didn’t stop while we were there. There was only one police officer there at the time, so it must have just happened,” he said.
He remembered that the traffic in front of him suddenly slowed down, and he began to see orange gas in front of him.
“It was a color I had never seen in vapor form before, so I decided to start recording it,” he said. “Just in case Tucson is reincarnated, eastern palestine I know? ”
In the video, a thick plume of gas can be seen coming from an overturned tractor-trailer. Seen flowing north across his ten lanes of a westbound interstate.
“I didn’t smell anything when I drove by. Maybe it was because the wind was blowing in the opposite direction,” Bilkey said. “However, I was dropping off a friend who lives in Rita Ranch about 800m north of where the spill was, in the direction the wind was blowing. When he got out of the car it almost smelled like smoke. It did, but it wasn’t fire smoke. It’s hard to explain, but it’s not fun.”
Nitric acid is a colorless liquid with yellow or red smoke and a pungent odor. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and PreventionExposure to it can irritate the eyes, skin and mucous membranes.
CNN’s Kayleen Chassi and Tina Burnside contributed to this report.
