Police identify driver killed in tanker crash

Maryland State Police on Friday identified the driver who died after his tanker truck carrying gasoline crashed into a tree and exploded in Frederick County on Saturday.

Police said in a news release the victim is Ronald Leroy Heiston Jr., 58, of Smithsburg, Md.

Troopers responded for the single-vehicle crash with fire, which occurred just before noon off Route 15 North, about a half mile north of Rosemont Avenue, police said.

According to an initial investigation, Heiston was “driving a tanker truck with approximately 8,650 gallons of gasoline” from Manassas, Va., to Taneytown, Md., when for reasons unknown, the vehicle “left the right side of the road, struck a tree and caught fire,” Maryland State Police said. Heiston died at the scene, police said.

Relatives of Heiston could not be immediately reached.

The crash temporarily shut down Route 15 in both directions. Six homes and five other vehicles were damaged by the fire, police said. There were no other injuries.

A crash investigation is ongoing.