A portion of U.S. Highway 101 north of Garberville was closed for several hours Wednesday morning after a semi-on-semi accident spilled about 60 gallons of diesel fuel in the roadway.

The accident occurred at about 6:20 a.m. between Garberville and Redway, when a semi with a container on a trailer stalled in the far-right northbound lane due to a mechanical failure. A following FedEx semi then failed to maneuver around the stalled truck, clipping the left rear of its trailer. The impact ruptured the FedEx truck's 150-gallon fuel truck, allowing approximately 60 gallons of diesel fuel to spill onto the roadway.

The drivers of the vehicles were not injured in the accident, and emergency responders were able to quickly contain the leaked fuel.

Humboldt County Division of Environmental Health Director Melissa Martel said someone from her office was on scene to monitor the diesel cleanup effort. She said CHP was the incident commander, and Caltrans had control over the clean up.

”We oversee them to make sure the cleanup is adequate and whatever impact there is to the environment is minimized,” she said.

Martel said personnel at the scene reported filling three drums with diesel-soaked absorbents. She said some diesel soaked into the road, but none was believed to have entered into any nearby waterways.

CHP Officer Matthew Harvey said drugs or alcohol were not believed to be a factor in the accident. The accident caused CHP to close three of the highway's five lanes at the scene, but traffic was flowing without restriction by 10:30 a.m.