The fiery collision of a tanker truck and a sport utility vehicle shut down the Seven Mile Bridge on Monday night, cutting off the Lower Keys from the rest of the state in yet another reminder of how fragile the link is between the islands and the mainland.
The crash, which killed one driver and presumably a second, erupted into a fireball so intense it melted metal and hampered fire-rescue efforts.
The blaze also threatened more than meets the eye: Aqueduct lines supplying drinking water to the Lower Keys and sensitive fiber-optic cables run the length of the Seven Mile Bridge and were at risk. Fortunately for Keys residents, engineers inspecting both late Monday said they appeared intact.
The Keys' best-known bridge also seemed at first glance to have avoided significant structural damage.
Inspectors ''have been inside the bridge superstructure. The aqueduct line does not look damaged; the fiber optic is fine, and the steel superstructure is undamaged,'' said Monroe County Administrator Thomas Willi.
The fuel tanker was headed south on U.S. 1 just after 5 p.m. Monday when it jackknifed and was rear-ended by the SUV, said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Pat Santangelo. The fire, still raging more than 90 minutes later, was carried live on Miami television stations as heat consumed the vehicles and massive plumes of dark smoke visible for miles blanketed the Keys.
SOUTH END
The crash occurred near the south end of the bridge just southwest of Marathon near mile marker 41, according to the FHP and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.
''It was shooting flames about 30 feet high,'' said Bill Rainy, a gatekeeper at the Sunshine Key RV Resort, a few miles south of the crash.
The man driving the SUV was pronounced dead at the scene, while the driver of the tanker truck, unaccounted for Monday evening, was thought to have perished in his vehicle, Santangelo said. A woman in the SUV was plucked from the fire after rescuers managed to winch the SUV away from the truck. She was listed in critical but stable condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital Monday night.
More than an hour after the collision and explosion, smoke continued to billow and sirens heading south toward the fire could be heard. The Coast Guard helped with rescue efforts, sending a 41-foot boat and establishing a one-mile security zone around the scene.
Nearly two hours after flames erupted, U.S. Navy firefighters dispatched from Boca Chica naval airfield north of Key West finally managed to put them out out with water supplied by county fire companies.
Firefighters feared the intense heat could cause structural damage to the span, so they directed water from two turrets and a layer of foam onto the roadway to protect it.
But as many as 3,000 gallons of fuel that will have to be removed by hazardous materials experts remained in what was left of the truck -- mostly fuel compartments in the belly of the tanker. The leftover fuel could delay the road's reopening into today.
''They're going to transfer that fuel to another tanker, and that's a very high-risk maneuver,'' Santangelo said. ''Because of the vapors, any spark can cause an explosion.''
Monroe County officials said they had no idea how long it would take to reopen the bridge but were hoping to have traffic moving again by this afternoon.
State Department of Transportation structural engineers began to inspect the bridge late Monday and would order repairs if necessary.
CHAIN OF ISLANDS
The incident reminded local residents and emergency officials that the Keys are indeed islands, despite the 42 bridges linking them.
''Certainly, if you want to go from Marathon to Key West, there is no way to do it unless you want to do it by boat,'' said Monroe County sheriff's spokeswoman Becky Herrin.
Only two weeks ago, the island chain braced for a logistical calamity of another sort: Hurricane Rita.
''Here we were preparing for if we lost a bridge in a storm event, and now what do we have? An accident on that Seven Mile Bridge that cuts us off, and what do we have out there in the Atlantic? A pretty strong tropical wave headed our way,'' Willi said.
Larry Kahn of the Florida Keys Keynoter contributed to this report.
Distributed by the Associated Press
