Mountain highway closed through tomorrow - at least - Press-Enterprise (blog)

Fuel-spill damage will keep Highway 38 closed in the San Bernardino Mountains until further notice, Caltrans officials say.

"Definitely tomorrow. And I don't know how much beyond that," Caltrans spokeswoman said shortly before 10:30 a.m.

Highway 38 is the main link between the valley cities of Redlands and Yucaipa and the mountain communities near the eastern end of Big Bear Lake. The lengthy detour route involves Highway 330 between Highland and Running Springs and Highway 18 between Running Springs and Big Bear Dam.

The spill occurred when a tanker truck laden with 8,200 gallons of gasoline overturned shortly after 10 p.m. Monday uphill from the mountain town of Angelus Oaks. Crews were able to recover about 2,200 gallons, according to U.S. Forest Service officials, but about 6,000 gallons escaped and seeped into the roadbed and soil.

The fire danger forced the evacuation of 12 persons at a nearby private camp.

But the extent of the cleanup and road repair remains unclear.

"There's 4,000 to 5,000 gallons of fuel probably soaked into the roadbed. And it's in both lanes," Kasinga said early this morning. "It seeped off the roadway, traveled behind the turnout into the forest, made a pond and seeped into the earth.

"When fuel seeps into the asphalt, it destroys it. We're probably going to have to dig up the roadbed."

On Tuesday, Caltrans officials initially thought the contamination had seeped to a depth of four feet. They dug a trench to confirm that belief — and discovered they had to dig deeper.

"It's over 22 feet deep now," Kasinga said. "And they're not even done yet."