I-10 traffic finally clears 14 hours after big rig crash

All day long the westbound I-10 looked like a parking lot from Indian Canyon to just past Haugen-Lehmann Way.

A big rig loaded with household supplies and nearly 700 pounds of pesticides exploded into flames after the driver lost control at around 6:45 a.m.

By 11 a.m., only the two right lanes had re-opened.

“Once you get here it’s just a complete halt,” said Nichelle Hoyt, who was stuck in I-10 for more than five hours.

Close to 12 hours after the crash, traffic was still crawling. Our crew left the news station at 4 p.m., and it took us an hour and a half to get from Bob Hope Drive to Highway 62.

“The plans were by this late evening I would be back with my family in Sacramento, and I’m still at the roadside,” said Dev Pannu, who was stuck on the shoulder near the Whitewater rest stop for more than 12 hours.

Pannu pulled over just after 7 a.m. hoping to wait out the traffic, and when he went to start his truck a few hours later the engine stalled.

“The heat and the worst part is we’re out of food,” Pannu described.

As the sun set, traffic remained snarled and thousands of commuters were forced to wait it out.

“The rest area you see is full of people,” said Damon Zink, who came to help Pannu with his truck. “I’ve never seen it out here like this in 25 years.”

The remaining two freeway lanes didn’t open until 8:45 p.m.