A pickup truck hits a semi truck on Highway 101

EUREKA, Calif. (KIEM)- A collision on Broadway caused a major traffic problem through Eureka on Wednesday afternoon.

The Eureka Police Department responded to a crash on Broadway near the Herrick exit, between a pickup truck and a semi truck.

North-bound traffic was backed up all the way to Fields Landing and in Eureka, all the way to 14th Street.

EPD says that the pickup truck, for some reason, veered into on-coming traffic, hitting the semi truck and causing a leak in one of the semi’s fuel tanks.

“So, the reason that it’s taking us so long to try to get this cleaned up is because one of the fuel tanks to the semi truck got ruptured,” said Sgt. Greg Hill with EPD. “There was fuel all over the roadway and we need to make sure we get the roadway all cleaned up before we open traffic back up because this is such a hazmat situation.”

The driver of the pickup had minor injuries and was sent to the hospital and the driver of the semi was not injured.