EDWARDS, Colo. -- Officials said a rollover crash along Interstate 70 Sunday could have turned into a dangerous explosion because the tanker truck was carrying crude oil.

The crash happened near Edwards along the eastbound lanes.

The tanker was carrying 8,000 gallons of condensate of petroleum crude oil. The oil was removed from natural gas wells and was being shipped to Denver for refinement.

According to Fire Chief Charles Moore of the Eagle River Fire Protection District, the oil was highly flammable and potentially explosive.

"The tanker rollover at Edwards on Sunday had the potential to be a great deal worse," Moore said. "It is fortunate that the tanker did not rupture when it rolled." The truck came to rest on top of a storm drain. Had the tank breached, the flammable oil would have drained to the north side of the new Battle Mountain High School," Moore said.

Firefighters drilled two holes into the tanker and drained the oil into a standby tanker, he said.

The eastbound lanes of I-70 were closed for 11 hours while crews cleaned up the oil and moved the tanker.

"This operation presented a high degree of risk. It was necessary to close the eastbound lanes of the interstate because this product is easily ignited and it was simply too dangerous to resolve this incident with traffic passing by within a few feet," Moore said.

The driver of the truck was not injured.

Truck Hits Bridge, Gets Stuck

I-70 near Silt was also shut down in both directions after a tank being carried on back of another truck became lodged under a bridge.

Traffic was routed onto the on- and off-ramps around the accident site.

At least one bridge girder was heavily damaged in the accident.