One person was killed and another was seriously injured in a crash Tuesday on U.S. Highway 550 south of Durango, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
No information was immediately available about the crash victims.
The crash was reported at 11:17 a.m. near mile marker 9, near Sunnyside Elementary School, about 9 miles north of the New Mexico line, said Sgt. Patrick Rice with the Colorado State Patrol.
A Dodge flatbed truck pulling a trailer was heading south when it lost control and jack-knifed, Rice said. A second flatbed truck traveling north collided with the first flatbed truck, he said.
Only one occupant was in each of the vehicles.
The driver of the Dodge flatbed truck died on scene. The driver of the northbound truck was taken to Mercy Hospital and later airlifted to St. Mary’s Regional Hospital in Grand Junction with serious injuries, Rice said.
Highway 550 did not fully reopen until 4:36 p.m. – more than five hours after the crash.
According to initial reports, one of the trucks may have been carrying diesel fuel. It was later learned that neither of the trucks was hauling fuel, but that one of the trucks had a fuel leak from its normal fuel tank, said Michael Krupa, deputy fire chief-operations with the Durango Fire Protection District.
A State Patrol hazmat team was on scene, he said.
shane@durangoherald.com
