GARLAND, Texas — On any given day, Interstate 635 at Jupiter Road in Garland can be a mess.
“Whenever we’re trying to exit over here ourselves, we're thinking about it twice,” said Sonny Kay, Lone Star Cadillac Sales Director.
The dealership sits right next to the highway’s construction. Axel Bermal also works there.
“We've seen crazy stuff happen. It's almost every day that we see a wreck right here, unfortunately,” said Bermal, Sales and Leasing Consultant.
Although they have seen crazy things happen, nothing was as crazy as what they saw Thursday morning. The dealership’s security camera caught the moment an 18-wheeler traveling westbound I-635 near Jupiter Road crashed into a concrete wall.
“We heard it first. At first, we thought it was thunder,” said Bermal. “I jumped. I jumped, you know what I mean? So, I mean, and then we ran outside to see what was happening.”
Garland Fire Department said the driver was safe, and no one was injured; however, the tanker spilled about 5,000 gallons of methanol onto the highway. Methanol is a chemical that is sometimes used to fuel vehicles.
“We have the hazmat team on the scene,” said James Dugger, Garland Fire Department Public Information Officer. “It slowed down traffic. The police department is on scene investigating the accident. They blocked off lanes for safety.”
Quantix, whose truck was involved, told WFAA they're "working with authorities to assess the scene and clean up the area."
"Upon being notified of the accident, Quantix immediately notified its emergency response partners who are currently working with local authorities to assess the scene and clean up the area to ensure the safety of the roadway and community members," said Quantix Chief Environmental Health Safety and Security Officer David Perez. "Our drivers are all extensively trained for hauling the products they carry and we will use this as an opportunity to review available footage and reports to determine what caused this accident. Quantix and its emergency responders partners are committed to resolving the situation as quickly and safely as possible."
It was a slowdown that businesses along that stretch see daily. The construction is part of a larger project on I-635 that started in 2020.
“I'm seeing a lot of customers just very appointment-driven now,” said Kay. “Ever since they started putting these barrels over here and whatnot, that foot traffic went down.”
While business has gone down, Kay said the number of crashes has increased. “When they hit a U-turn out or they're going the wrong way to come in here. That creates more chaos,” said Kay.
He and Bermal have helped people in wrecks there in the past.
“It's just about helping your fellow man or your fellow person, you just want to do as much as you can to spread positivity in this world, especially when it seems like there's a lot of negative going around,” said Bermal.
Garland Fire said they do not know what caused the driver to crash at this time.
Alternate routes around 635 crash
