Big Truck Batters Gas Station, Cars

Photograph caption:
Albert Thomas climbs from his truck amidst the rubble wrought when his vehicle went out of control.

In the second photograph, Albert grapples with the outcome of the accident.

Article summary:
A 73,000-pound tractor-trailer loaded with steel pipe smashed into a Van Nuys service station Tuesday afternoon, but no one was seriously injured. Police said driver Albert Thomas, 40, of Bell Gardens, was wheeling his load off the San Diego Freeway at Burbank Blvd. when the air brakes failed.

Thomas swerved to avoid hitting any cars, ripping out 30 feet of freeway guard rail, police said. But when he tried to turn onto Sepulveda Blvd., he found his steering had also failed. The vehicle shot across Sepulveda Blvd. through a gap in traffic and crashed through the glass front of the gasoline station at the Northeast corner of Sepulveda and Burbank Blvds., officers reported.

Photographer: George Brich, Valley Times Photo Collection/Los Angeles Public Library
Photograph dated October 10, 1962