Garbage truck crash shuts down roadway and forces businesses to evacuate

Businesses wereevacuatedin Cathedral City Monday afternoon after a car collided with a natural gas Burrtec garbage truck, near the corner on Highway 111 and Date Palm Drive.

According to Cathedral City Fire, the accident happened just after 3:30 p.m. when a sedan reportedly hit the side of the natural gas garbage truck, while both were trying to turn into the Carl’s Jr drive-thru.

Both drivers were not hurt, but the truck began leaking a substance from the side, and emergency crews thought it could be natural gas. Burrtec dispatched a mechanic to the scene, who reportedly said it was hydraulic fluic, not natural gas. The leak was stopped and the truck was towed away.

As a precaution, police shut down Highway 111 between Date Palm Drive and Allen Road and evacuated the Carl’s Jr at the corner of Date Palm and Highway 111. Both were reopened about an hour later.