A semi-tractor trailer loaded with explosives slid off a slick stretch of the Alaska Highway Tuesday a couple miles east of Delta Junction. Alaska State Troopers say the explosives didn’t detonate and the driver wasn’t injured.
Troopers got a report at around 9:15 Tuesday night about the wreck near milepost 1418. The northbound truck hit the ditch and plowed about 100 feet into a stand of black spruce.
The tractor was heavily damaged, but according to a Trooper dispatch, the cargo in the trailer remained intact, with no damage or spillage.
The dispatch said the wrecked truck posed no risk of explosion and was not a public safety hazard.
But it added “Due to the nature of the cargo, Alaska State Troopers will remain on scene until recovery operations begin.”
Two heavy wreckers removed the truck and trailer late Wednesday afternoon.
A Trooper spokesperson said winter road conditions were a contributing factor to the wreck.
According to the state Department of Transportation, that stretch of the Alaska Highway has ice patches and snow. The temperature in that area was about 20 below zero.
The spokesperson said the truck was owned and operated by Tri-State Motor Transportation, an Arizona-based company. The Tri-State website says it specializes in “high-security transportation.”
According to the spokesperson, the truck was delivering the explosives to a facility in Salcha operated by Orica USA, an Australia-based company.
An Orica spokesperson based at the company’s North American headquarters in Colorado confirmed in an email this morning that the truck was delivering blasting materials to its Salcha facility.
Editor's note: This story has been updated.
