10 Freeway closed in Fontana after overturned big rig spills gallons of syrup onto road

The westbound 10 Freeway was closed in Fontana on Monday after a big rig overturned and spilled hundreds of gallons of syrup onto the road. 

It happened just after 11:20 a.m. near the Citrus Avenue exits, according to the California Highway Patrol's incident log. 

Officers are unsure what caused the semi to overturn, but said that the thick liquid began to flow out of the trailer and quickly spread, creating an inch-thick layer of syrup across the westbound lanes.

A SigAlert was issued to close all four lanes of the freeway as crews began working to clear the wreckage and syrup. Several attempts to absolve and absorb the liquid were unsuccessful, leading to a much longer closure than CHP officers had initially expected. As of 6 p.m., crews were using a ant vacuum attached to a truck was being used to suck the syrup off the road. 

There was no timetable as to when the lanes would reopen.

SkyCal was overhead as a long line of traffic stretched back from the spot of the incident a little after 6 p.m. All cars were being diverted from the freeway to the Citrus Avenue exit as cleanup work continued. The semi truck had already been towed from the area.

Video from the scene showed syrup spilling from the semi's trailer and pooling across the freeway.