BIG RIG CRASH SNARLS THE MORONGO GRADE

Traffic was snarled on the Morongo Grade for most of Monday due to a big rig that crashed through the guardrail. The truck was hauling two tanks with about 40,000 pounds of soda ash used to make glass when a front tire blew out about noon yesterday. The blow out caused the truck to go through the guardrail; the truck and two tanks ended up at the bottom of a 20-foot embankment just west of the county line. The tanks leaked about 10,000 pounds of soda ash, and the California Highway Patrol had to call for a crane to lift the tanks up and pull the big rig up the embankment. The highway’s westbound lanes were reduced to one lane from the top of the grade to past the crash. The driver was not injured in the crash.