A tanker carrying liquefied natural gas crashed near Dawson City Tuesday night.
The North Klondike Highway was scheduled to be closed until early afternoon today so a crane could come in and tip the vehicle back on its wheels.
The tanker was carrying 55,000 litres of liquid natural gas and weighed 80,000 pounds (36,300 kilograms) when it turned over around 8 p.m. Tuesday night. It happened just south of the bridge going into Dawson City.
Police are still investigating exactly what happened, Dawson City Fire Chief Jim Regimbal said yesterday.
No gas is leaking, he said.
A second tanker was scheduled to arrive in Dawson today. Once the rolled tanker is back on its wheels, the methane will be transferred.
The road has remained open since the crash. It will have to be shut down for 800 metres in both directions while the work is being done, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and then again from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., according to Mayor Wayne Potoroka.
The company that owns the gas, FortisBC, has taken over the scene through consultation with Transport Canada.
A B.C. company of technical experts, Quantum Murray, is working on the emergency response alongside local personnel.
“The truck driver would have on his manifest an emergency response activation plan,” Regimbal said.
“Then when we get on scene we determine what the product is with our emergency guide, keep our distance and phone the experts out of Ottawa and they let us know what should be done.”
The truck was travelling from Delta, B.C. to Inuvik when it crashed.
Regimbal said he expects to have more information on what happened later today.
All the emergency responses were “textbook” he said.
Contact Ashley Joannou at
ashleyj@yukon-news.com