Man speaks after spending hours stuck on Interstate 17

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - On Tuesday, hundreds of drivers were stuck for up to nine hours on the I-17, after a propane tanker fire closed down the highway in both directions.

The highway didn't reopen until 1:00 a.m. Wednesday, and in the hours between the highway's closure and reopening, drivers had a decision to make: wait it out or take an hours-long detour to reach their destination.

For some, however, that delay turned life threatening.

Zac Bolen's friend reportedly went into diabetic shock during the delay.

"At five hours, I was like ,'yeah, OK. It was a propane tanker. I get it, this should be wrapping up,'" said Bolen. "Ten hours without medical personnel checking on people. Water, it's the desert, it's summer."

Bolen still upset by how the situation was handled, and said people were anxious and had little information.

"Definitely grumpy as you can imagine," said Bolen. "I had anxiety about it, but again, what are you going to do? We can survive a while, but the people that need things can't survive that while. People were upset."

Bolen hopes things would be handled differently, if something like this happens again.

"Definitely, medical personnel walking up and down, making sure everyone is OK, if it's going to be that long," said Bolen. "Again, supplies, water, not necessarily food, but you need water and bypass routes. Why doesn't the 17 have bypass routes from intersection to intersection."

ADOT officials said they were not available for an interview on this story.