Hazmat response team heads to Hinckley for overturned semi truck leaking diesel fuel

HINCKLEY - Somonauk Road has reopened Tuesday as of 11:20 a.m. after it was closed overnight due to DeKalb County’s regional emergency response hazmat team responding to an overturned semi-trailer truck leaking diesel fuel in Hinckley.

A portion of Somonauk Road was closed through the night into Tuesday said Chief Deputy Jim Burgh with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.

Burgh said crews responded shortly after 3 p.m. to reports of the overturned semi which was carrying about 3,500 gallons of diesel fuel.

“[The truck] was north bound on Somonauk, south of the railroad tracks and north of Bastian Road,” Burgh said. “He went off the road, we don’t know why yet. But he hit the guardrail and we’re not sure if he overcorrected at this point, but he rolled the truck.”

The driver was not injured, and no other cars were involved in the incident, which remains under investigation, Burgh said.

Fire crews from the MABAS Division 6 crew, a special hazmat emergency response team made up of firefighters from DeKalb, Sycamore, Maple Park, Waterman and Somonauk fire departments are on the scene assisting crews from the Hinckley Fire Department.

“There is diesel pouring out,” Burgh said. “I don’t know how much of it yet, but they’re still getting additional trucks up here to remove some of the diesel.”

Somonauk Road is closed between Route 30 and Bastian Road, Burgh said.

“It’s going to be a while,” Burgh said, addressing road closures while crews clean the spill so it doesn’t seep into the waterway.

The DeKalb County Highway Department is also on the scene since the roadway is under its jurisdiction, Burgh said. Crews are cutting the guardrail to get to the spill, he said.

This story was updated at 9:15 p.m. Monday, Nov. 22, 2021 with additional comments by Burgh on Somonauk Road closures. This story was updated again Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021 at 12:30 p.m. when Somonauk Road reopened.