A fire Tuesday consumed a big rig parked on a Riverside street, where diesel fuel spilled into a drainage canal, prompting a hazardous materials response.
The non-injury blaze was reported about 5 a.m. in the area of Market and Rivera streets, according to the Riverside Fire Department.
Battalion Chief Bruce Vanderhorst said that three engine crews and a truck company, numbering 16 personnel, were sent to the location and encountered flames raging in the semi truck.
Firefighters were able to contain the blaze within a half-hour. However, a ruptured saddle tank on the rig caused fuel to seep into the adjacent storm drain, according to Vanderhorst.
He said a hazardous materials unit was summoned to contain the leak, and the city’s Department of Environmental Health was also called in to organize clean-up operations.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.