A massive fire shut down Montrose Road over Interstate 270 in Rockville for most of Thursday after a tanker trunk carrying thousands of gallons of gasoline overturned and exploded.
The driver of the tanker — Michael Gongola, 45, of Frederick — lost control of the truck around 4:45 a.m. Gongola was able to escape from the overturned cabin before the explosion, according to the Montgomery County Police.
As the truck slid on its side, flying debris struck a second vehicle, driven by 35-year-old Rockville resident Jeffrey Seelig. Both Seelig and Gongola were reported to be unharmed, and police have charged Gongola with negligent driving.
The fire and cleanup caused backups for commuters traveling along I-270, the Capital Beltway and local roads during the morning rush hours. Though much of I-270 was open by 6:30 a.m. after the fire had been extinguished, periodic partial closures continued on the highway and all local travel lanes remained shut late into the afternoon.
About 40 county road workers spent Thursday afternoon tearing up the charred asphalt amid heavy fumes of gasoline and singed roadside grass.
“The good news is it did not get on the bridge,” said Greg Edwards, an engineer for the state of Maryland who supervised the cleanup.
County officials had been worried that the fire had weakened the structural integrity of the bridge, but the blaze was contained to an area of Montrose Road just east of the overpass.
All roads were reopened Thursday evening around 5 p.m.,but partial lane closures likely will hinder traffic Friday as crews are scheduled to replace the damaged pavement.
“We’re not closing the full interchange down again,” Edwards said, but cautioned that driving on the road before fresh pavement was laid Friday would be “rough going.”
Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service Capt. Oscar Garcia said his department received calls to 911 starting at 4:45 a.m. and finished extinguishing the fire around 6:30 a.m.
People from miles around heard the explosion.
“It was loud. I’m in the center of the neighborhood and I heard it,” said Heidi Newman, 51, a resident of the nearby North Farm area of Rockville. “We heard the booms around a quarter to 5 and had no idea what it was.”
Newman and other residents said they hoped the road would be cleared up soon to confine heavy traffic to normal thoroughfares.
“I think a lot of people will be driving though the neighborhood until they get this cleaned up,” Newman said. “It’s just a mess.”
