This 18-wheeler hauling propane blocked South Sparkman Street and Old Highway 31 this morning. | Clif Knight

An overturned propane gas truck blocked traffic for more than two hours and prompted Hartselle Fire and Rescue to cordon off a 100-yard area surrounding the wreck site as a precautionary measure this morning.

The tanker, owned by L&L Transportation, flipped on its side after the rear wheels on the passenger side dropped off in a drainage culvert at the intersection of Karl Prince Drive and South Sparkman Street. The single vehicle accident occurred at approximately 9:30 a.m.

The driver escaped without injury.

Hartselle Fire Chief Steve Shelton said the driver told him he was in the process of making a right turn at the five-points intersection when truck’s wheels dropped into the ditch. The truck was 80 percent filled with propane gas.

“There was no apparent rupture of the tank,” Shelton said,” but we decided to lay lines from engine one and evacuate an area extending 100 yards from the wreck.”

The truck blocked Old Highway 31 and water lines blocked the intersection. In the meantime, a heavy-duty wreck had to be summoned to the scene. This resulted in traffic not being able to use the intersection for more than two hours since a heavy duty wrecker had to be summoned form out of town to pull the truck out of the ditch.

Police officers and firefighters were still on the scene at 11 a.m.