The outside southbound lane of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge will remain closed overnight after a tanker crash and diesel-fuel fire shut down traffic on the bridge in both directions for hours Tuesday.

  • NB reopened, outside SB lane closed overnight
  • Tanker's tire blew out; diesel fuel caught fire
  • Driver escaped with minor injuries

Troopers said a tractor trailer fuel tanker's tire blew out on the southbound side of the bridge at about 10:40 a.m., causing the driver to crash and 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel to catch on fire. The 2007 Mack Truck's fuel burned on the Dick Misener approach to the main part of the bridge. A large plume of dark smoke billowed into the sky near the bridge.

Firefighters said the driver did a good job escaping on his own.

"Where he ended up with the crash, he knew that the product, if it was coming out of the tank, was going to go down the bridge. So he had the smarts to go up," St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Lt. Steven Lawrence said.

The driver, Ulises Hernandez-Fernandez, 48, of Tampa was taken to Manatee Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.

The crash closed down both lanes for hours. The northbound lanes reopened a couple of hours after the crash. But drivers going south toward Manatee County had to take the long way home.

"I spent one hour over there, and now I spent three hours here and maybe another two hours to go back,” motorist Juan Guzman said.

Brothers Frederico Carvalho (left) and Judel Sanchez decided to make the best of the situation and began fishing from the top of the Sunshine Skyway.

Carvahlo said he wasn't sure his line would make it about 200 feet down to the water.

"As soon as the lines actually hit the water, everyone's looking at us like, 'These guys are crazy,' ” Carvalho said. “We got some nibbles, and I ended up catching a nice little snapper. But the funny part was just trying to actually bring it up. I didn't think there was any way we were going to bring it up, but it did."

The men posed with a black drum and mangrove grouper that they threw back.

"It was definitely a form of extreme fishing,” Sanchez said.

"I feel like it's a privilege,” Carvalho said, "because I don't think a lot of people have been able to be at the very top of the Skyway Bridge and say they actually caught something."

People like Dan Dennis were trying to keep their cool about the delays by sitting in the air conditioning and relying on a sense of humor.

"I'm going to swim across. No, I'm joking,” he said. “I'll probably, you know, call around making other arrangements and probably drive the Gandy to the Crosstown."