A hot mess

Crews from Tony’s Wrecker in Clear Lake, work to upright an overturned semi on Interstate 35 north of Clear Lake.  The semi, hauling a tanker of tar, came to rest in the median of I-35 at the B-20 interchange on March 20.   The driver, 24-year-old Travis Noordhoek of Prairie Du Chien, Wis., was southbound

when he went off the road and lost control of the vehicle. The tanker struck the bridge supports to the overpass at mile marker 197 breaking open and spilling hot tar into the median. Noordhoek was taken to Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa in Mason City, where he was treated and released. The Iowa State Patrol, the Iowa Department of Transportation and the Clear Lake Fire Department responded to the scene at about 7:30 a.m. The Mason City Fire Department hazardous materials team, the CLFD and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources assisted with the cleanup.