Update: Highway 101 fully reopens after semi truck crashes, catches fire

Update, 3:45 p.m.

Both northbound Highway 101 lanes were fully reopened from Main Street in Templeton to Highway 46 West in San Luis Obispo County, according to Alexa Bertola, public information officer at Caltrans.

Update, 1:45 p.m.

The No. 2 lane of northbound Highway 101 remained closed at the Main Street off-ramp in Templeton as of 1:45 p.m., according to the CHP incident log.

Update, 11 a.m.

The No. 1 lane of northbound Highway 101 was open as of 9 a.m., according to Alexa Bertola, public information officer at Caltrans.

The northbound No. 2 lane was still closed at the Main Street off-ramp in Templeton, according to Bertola.

Bertola said the freeway is expected to reopen at 12:30 p.m.



A three-car collision on Highway 101 at the Santa Maria River Bridge caused traffic to be backed up to Betteravia Road in Santa Maria, according to CHP officer Maria Barriga.



Three vehicles were traveling north on Highway 101 and one vehicle didn’t react in time when traffic had stopped, Barriga said. This caused a chain reaction to two other vehicles, she said.

Two drivers were trapped in the vehicle and were taken the hospital with minor injuries, Barriga said. The third driver was unhurt.

Update, 9 a.m.

The No. 1 lane of northbound Highway 101 was open as of 9 a.m. Tuesday following a collision involving a semi-trailer truck, the CHP said.

The northbound No. 2 lane was still closed at the Main Street off-ramp in Templeton.

Original Story:

A semi-trailer truck crashed and caught fire on Highway 101 near Paso Robles early Tuesday morning, affecting freeway traffic, according to Caltrans.

The collision, which involved a sedan and a big rig truck carrying crates of oranges, occurred at 4:24 a.m. and resulted in a ruptured fuel tank, according to the California Highway Patrol incident page.

“Hazmat is on (the) scene due to leaking fuel,” Caltrans said in a news release.

Caltrans closed northbound highway lanes from Main Street in Templeton to Highway 46 West in San Luis Obispo County, according to the release.

Northbound traffic was being diverted at Main Street to Ramada Drive in Paso Robles, Caltrans said.

Several crashes occurred Tuesday morning on the southbound side of Highway 101 at or near the scene of the original collision, some involving injuries, according to the CHP incident page.

As of 8:30 a.m., the CHP had not determined when the northbound lanes will reopen.

This story was originally published August 16, 2022 at 8:37 AM.