Everyone except emergency crews, kept at a safe distance. But even a quarter mile up Highway 17, it was easy to see why. There were remains of a log truck and two tilting train cars, tankers marked hazardous cargo. That was the first worry for fire and rescue crews, and state troopers. But, they got a break. The phosphoric acid flushed from this tanker, and the other one, brand new, was empty. The impact of that log truck against the train flung logs like straws over the train cars and into the back of the truck's cabin, killing the driver at the scene. The task now is to clear the wreckage and get the main coastal highway back open and try to figure out why that truck did not stop.
