At 10h30 pm last night two people died in a crash as they were driving heavy vehicles in opposite directions on the Highway 401 at the Brock Road interchange in Pickering, Ontario, Canada. A fuel tanker truck traveling eastbound on the 401 rolled over and crashed creating an explosion and igniting a toxic dangerous fire burning at very high intensity. At the same time two other vehicles traveling in the opposite direction westbound on the freeway lanes were caught in the side-effect of the initial collision and caught fire. Occupants of one of these two vehicles, a small car, fled to safety before the inferno ignited and spread uncontrollably but the driver of the other vehicle, a front cab of a big rig tractor trailer, died in the fire. The driver of the tanker truck carrying highly flammable liquid that originally rolled over causing an eruption and a fireball also died in the wreck and it is unclear whether any of the two victim's remains were located yet. This afternoon Wednesday June 21st road crews and civil engineers are conducting inspection on the viaduct running over the freeway lanes where the fire occurred. Charred spots on the concrete of the overpass show how intense the blaze involving the three vehicles was. Roadwork will continue throughout the day to determine if any reconstruction of the affected infrastructures is needed. Aerial footage in the early moments after the crash shows several ambulances and other emergency vehicles driving backwards on Brock Road after the fire was deemed too dangerous to actively fight. Firefighters and hazmat crews from Pickering and Toronto faced extremely high risk conditions as some of the hose lines used to attempt to put out the blaze caused the reverse effect. Just like in a cooking fire where oil is ablaze, flames consuming the burning fuel on the roadway at extreme heat were carried by the water and foam and drained into the pipe system of the highway causing an underground internal explosion. A bird's eye view provides a clear image of how crews manage to monitor the unfolding fire while remaining at a safe distance parked all around the burning wreck. Rarely seen here installed on the live highway lanes is a collapsible water tank used by firefighters to fill water from a tanker for an engine to be able to apply water in remote areas or where a hydrant is too far.
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