By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff reporter

RESERVE — An early Monday morning wreck involving a tanker truck carrying diesel fuel spawned a violent fire and sent two people to the hospital, said authorities on the scene.

Firefighters with the Reserve Volunteer Fire Department said the accident occurred around 3:30 a.m. Monday along Airline Highway near the intersection of West 10th Street in Reserve.

Authorities said the tanker truck was traveling eastbound on Airline Highway when a Cadillac sedan turned into the tanker’s path. The driver lost control of the truck, which overturned and ended up in the parking lot of a Masonic lodge.

The accident caused the truck to catch fire, which damaged the external façade of the lodge. Firefighters spent about two hours extinguishing the blaze.

Authorities said the driver of the truck walked away from the wreck unscathed. The two occupants of the Cadillac were transported to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge, where one of the victims remains in critical condition.