Ramp damaged by tanker fire to close Sunday morning for patching
UPDATE: The ramp reopened for use on Sunday afternoon.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The southbound Interstate 465 ramp to eastbound I-70 will be closed starting at 9:30 a.m. Sunday for patching after a Thursday tanker fire left a driver hospitalized and covered the ramp in flaming jet fuel.
The Indiana Department of Transportation on Saturday night said the bridge is structurally sound but crews were waiting until the low-traffic period of Sunday morning to patch the deckof the bridge that was burned in the fire.
INDOT is still waiting on results of Saturday testing of the bridge.
Until the patching is completed and the ramp reopens, INDOT recommends drivers use Shadeland Avenue to get on eastbound I-70.
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The semi tanker hauling 4,000 gallons of jet fuel overturned on the ramp near mile-marker 43 along northbound I-465 just before 2 p.m. Thursday.
The driver of the tanker, 59-year-old Jeffrey Denman of Brownsburg, was helped to safety by good Samaritans before he was taken to the hospital in critical condition, police said.
Authorities said the driver contacted part of the guardrail on the ramp which split the tank and forced the semi to overturn, causing a massive fire. Witnesses told police they saw the driver exit the semi with his clothes on fire.
Mitch Navarre, a good Samaritan credited with helping save the man’s life, noticed Denman standing close to the semi when he was on fire. Navarre pulled him away from the semi when the first of two tanker explosions happened. According to authorities, the men made their way down the south side of the bridge ramp where another good Samaritan, Holly McNally, stopped her car and jumped in to help them.
ISP Trooper Chris Hanson was the first to arrive to the scene and help the victim, authorities said. Trooper Hanson was able to get to the victim, place him in his patrol car and cover him in clothes until medical help arrived.
Fire officials said the large amount of jet fuel poured down the sides of the embankment and created a “fire wall.” It took crews about 40 minutes to extinguish it.
Denman, who has worked as a driver for Zionsville-based Jet Star since July, is an Air Force veteran known by friends as “Duke.” He was delivering jet fuel, according to Jet Star President Brian Guiducci, when the crash happened on the city’s east side.
“He’s a super nice guy. Very soft-spoken. Very quiet. Very meticulous and particular. Always smiling. Everybody likes it when he comes in the office,” the Jet Star president said.
On Saturday, Jet Star provided a photo of Denman but said it did not have an update on the driver’s condition.