Thousands of residents within a half-mile radius of a semi-tanker crash were evacuated from their homes until at least 9 p.m. Friday because of a propane leak.

Traffic around Parleys Canyon also was shut down because of the danger and was expected to create a traffic nightmare for the evening commute.

"We do have everything on the north end of (Interstate) 215 east closed," Utah Highway Patrol trooper Cameron Roden said. "If you're going northbound, exit at 3900 South. Anyone east or west on I-80 that wants to go southbound cannot. Anything from Foothill to 215 is closed."

Troopers said traffic would be allowed to go up Parleys Canyon on I-80. All other traffic was being diverted to side streets.

The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office said it had evacuated about 3,000 people in 800 homes from 2900 South to 3200 South and from 2900 East to 3900 East.

The American Red Cross has set up a temporary shelter at Skyline High School. Dinner was being ordered and cots were being set up for people who may need to spend the night. About 15 people showed up as of 5 p.m.

"It just sounded like an explosion and we felt the house shake. It felt like something really heavy fell from the sky. We thought our deck had fallen off," said Vincent Liu, who looked out into his backyard and saw the crash.

A sheriff's deputy knocked on his door and told him to evacuate.

The UHP said the semitrailer rolled about 1:30 p.m. Friday. UHP Sgt. Jeff Nigbur said troopers believe the driver was turning from I-80 to I-215 too fast and rolled it. The semi and a tanker rolled, smashing through a sound wall. The pup trailer remained standing, but propane was seen leaking from the tanker.

Firefighters had to extricate the driver, who was taken to a local hospital with critical injuries.

Hazardous materials teams were dousing the leaking propane with water in an effort to ensure that a spark doesn't trigger an explosion, Nigbur said.

---

Contributing: Ben Winslow

---

E-MAIL: ethomas@desnews.com