A 32-year-old Texas man was cited with careless driving after driving off U.S. Highway 550 at the base of Coal Bank Pass on Thursday, causing his truck to catch fire.
Colorado State Patrol Capt. Adrian Driscoll said the driver, Julio Rivera-Icezalaya, was taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center with moderate injuries, mostly burns from the fire. He was working for JI Rivera, LLC, out of Houston.
Driscoll said Rivera-Icezalaya was driving a 2007 Freightliner headed south from Silverton to Durango when he lost control of the vehicle around 8:50 p.m. near mile marker 53, close to the hairpin turn at Cascade Creek.
Driscoll said a hazmat team cleaned up the diesel fuel that spilled as a result of the crash. The truck was hauling gilsonite, used as a road base for asphalt, which is not considered a hazardous material.
Highway 550 was reopened around 10:50 p.m., Driscoll said.