Sampson County Emergency Services said Sunday afternoon that all evacuation orders tied to a methanol tanker fire near Bestwood Lane and Taylors Bridge Highway in Sampson County, North Carolina, had been lifted, including a 0.5-mile evacuation area¹.

The National Weather Service relayed the county hazardous-materials warning at 4:01 p.m. EST with Severe severity, Immediate urgency and Observed certainty, saying residents may return home, use caution near the incident scene and follow directions from emergency personnel¹.

ABC11, citing Sampson County Emergency Services and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, reported a head-on crash on U.S. 421 near River Road just after 7:30 a.m. involving a pickup and a tractor-trailer, after which both vehicles burned off the roadway².

The station said the pickup driver was killed and that the tractor-trailer driver was taken to Sampson Regional Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries².

ABC11 described the tanker cargo as methane that remained contained and did not ignite, and it said the State Hazardous Materials Unit was called². The later county notice relayed by the National Weather Service described the incident as a methanol tanker fire¹.

ABC11, in a report published before the 4:01 p.m. notice, said officials had lifted the evacuation for most of the affected area². The county's later alert said all evacuation orders, including the 0.5-mile zone, had been lifted¹.

The IPAWS notice did not name the crash victims, identify remaining road closures or say whether the cargo was fully secured¹.

Sources

1. National Weather ServiceSampson County Emergency Services3:01 PM
2. ABC11One dead after pickup collides head-on with methane tanker on US 4211:31 PM

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