BAILEY, Colo. -- A fully-loaded gasoline tanker carrying 8,500 gallons of fuel crashed, caught fire and exploded in a wall of flames on Highway 285 near Bailey Thursday afternoon, killing the driver and closing the highway.

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Bailey Resident Describes Explosion

The Colorado State Patrol said the driver may have realized he was in trouble because he tossed his wallet and log book out of the cab in the seconds before the crash.

"I believe the driver -- prior to rolling over and running off the road -- he threw out all those documents onto the road so he could be identified," said Sgt. Martin Petrik, CSP trooper.

Motorists tried to rescue the driver of the tanker after the crash, but said the flames drove them back, 7NEWS reported. The driver was not identified, but was said to be 23 years old, according to the CSP.

Spot fires spread into the nearby forest in Platte Canyon, 2 miles west of Bailey in Park County. The area is very rocky and sparsely timbered. The fire was extiguished shortly before 4 p.m.

The tanker landed on the north side of Highway 285, opposite the Platte River, which runs along the highway in Platte Canyon.

One resident said the first thing she thought about was a forest fire.

"I heard this 'boom' and I thought it was thunder," said Wanda Painter, a Bailey resident who lives near the accident "I was scared to death because -- you know -- a couple of years ago, we had a fire and we had to be evacuated."

"When I got to the scene, I was able to get fairly close to the fire," said Lora Abcarian, editor of The Flume newspaper in Bailey. "I could feel the heat radiating off me, it was so intense."

Abcarian took the photo on the right.

Highway 285 remained closed in both directions in the area of the accident, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. Traffic was rerouted on Park County 64, a dirt road that parallels the highway. It was expected to be closed for some time, possibly until sometime Firday morning.

"At this time Highway 285 remains closed, it is unknown when it will reopen," said Eric Wynn, CSP trooper. "Authorities on scene do not believe the (Platte River) was contaminated with gasoline. Some spillage was running down the culvert, but CDOT was able to keep it contained. The tanker was hauling approximately 8,500 gallons."

The Denver Water Board was notified of the accident because of the threat of contamination to the nearby river.

Fire crews from Platte Canyon Fire foamed the truck, but the gasoline in the tanker continued to burn for several hours before finaly burning itself out.

The driver's body was still in the wreckage.

"When you've covered so many fires for a newspaper, you still stay awe-struck about how dangerous and fragile life can be," said Abcarian.

The fire is believed to have started after the tanker crashed on a curve.

"We believe that the vehicle was traveling too fast for the curve in the roadway," said Petrik.

The accident happened shortly before 1 p.m.

Students at nearby Platte Canyon High School and Fitzsimmons Middle School were bused home, via PC 64.

The tanker belonged to Iowa Tank Lines, which also had serious accidents on Interstate 70 in the past .

On Oct. 31, 2001 another Iowa Tank Lines truck spilled fuel on Loveland Pass. On Nov. 9, 2001 a tanker rolled and spilled fuel into Clear Creek near Dumont, killing thousands of fish. On Dec. 7, 2001 an Iowa Fuel Lines tanker crashed and caught fire in Glenwood Canyon, killing the driver.

Iowa Tank Lines was fined $95,000 by the Environmental Protections Agency earlier this week for the 2001 Clear Creek accident, which killed more than 17,000 trout.

Iowa Tank Lines has been involved in six injury accidents nationwide in the last 24 months, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The company operates 140 trucks, which traveled 12-million miles in 2003. It has a satisfactory safety record wth the FMCSA.