SEMI HITS BARRICADE, HURTS 2 AND CLOSES I-15

A semitrailer truck loaded with fertilizer ran off I-15 early Tuesday and crashed into a concrete barricade, injuring the driver and passenger and shutting down the southbound lanes of the highway for several hours.

The Davis County Sheriff's Office reported the southbound truck struck the overpass barricade about 12:45 a.m. Tuesday. The semitrailer truck overturned, according to the sheriff's department, and the resultant spill of fertilizer and diesel fuel created a potentially hazardous chemical mix.The hazardous materials response team of the South Davis Fire District was called out, in addition to paramedics and Utah Highway Patrol troopers, to handle the incident.

The driver and a passenger in the rig's sleeping compartment, both from New Mexico, were airlifted to LDS Hospital. The two men, whose names have not been released, were initially reported in critical condition but their condition later Tuesday morning was upgraded to stable.

No one else was injured in the incident, either by the crash itself or the spilled fertilizer, according to the sheriff's department. The overpass was not damaged and the southbound lanes of I-15 were reopened around 7 a.m., before the morning commuter rush.

No damage estimate had been made by early Tuesday, but the sheriff's department noted the semitrailer truck - which was 2 weeks old with only 2,900 miles - were destroyed.