THE MAZE MELTDOWN

James Mosqueda, the driver in Sunday's fiery fuel-tanker crash, climbed out of the cab of his truck just moments before an explosion so powerful and hot that it melted steel and brought down a freeway, witnesses and law enforcement officials said.

Mosqueda, a 51-year-old father of three from Woodland (Yolo County), walked away from the wreck -- and kept on walking.

He walked for a mile and a half in all -- first along the overpass where he crashed and then for at least 13 blocks through the desolate streets of West Oakland -- to an Arco gas station, where he approached a cabdriver and asked for a ride to a hospital, police said.

The Friendly Cab driver, who identified himself to The Chronicle only as Anthony, 46, of San Jose, said he had just pulled into the gas station at West Grand Avenue and Market Street when he saw Mosqueda.

"He walked up to me. He was in pain. He was telling me he was dying. He had blisters, bubbles on his hands. Part of his hair was burnt," the cabbie said.

An hour had passed since the crash and, unbeknownst to the cabbie, authorities had been searching for the truck's driver.

During the 2-mile drive to Kaiser Oakland Medical Center, they talked about the crash. Mosqueda told the cabbie that he didn't remember the crash -- only the truck being on its side.

"He told me that as soon as he got out, it exploded," Anthony said.

When they pulled up to Kaiser at 4:51 a.m., Mosqueda got ready to pay the fare.

"He wanted to pay me, but I refused," the cabbie said.

Mosqueda was treated at Kaiser before being transferred later Sunday morning to the burn unit at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco.

Mosqueda's father said his son was doing well despite second- degree burns to his face, neck and hands.

"He's OK now," he said in a brief telephone interview, adding that he expected his son to spend two or three days recovering at the hospital before coming home.

A friend of Mosqueda, the Rev. Oscar Escalante of Sacramento, said Mosqueda told him that after the crash he "kind of blacked out and the next thing he knew he was running away."

Mosqueda, Escalante said, described his walk through the streets of Oakland. "He said it seemed like hours. He said there was nobody on the street. Nobody anywhere.''

California Highway Patrol spokesman Trent Cross said Mosqueda was driving at an unsafe speed in a 50 mph zone, moving in the right lane of the two-lane connector ramp between westbound Interstate 80 and southbound Interstate 880, when he struck the right guardrail, causing the truck to overturn.

The intense heat from the fire eventually melted the connector ramp overhead -- the road carrying traffic from the Bay Bridge to eastbound Interstate 580.

Cross said Mosqueda had been driving for Sabek Transportation, of South San Francisco, for 10 months. He was carrying 8,600 gallons of gasoline from a Benicia refinery to a gas station on Hegenberger Road in Oakland.

According to a company statement, Mosqueda has a safe driving record. The company described his escape from the wreck as "miraculous" and said it is cooperating with the investigation into the crash. The company also said initial alcohol and drug tests indicate Mosqueda was not under the influence while he was driving.

Cross said Mosqueda has a valid driver's license and no apparent history of driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

"At this point, there is no indication of impairment on the part of the driver, but that will be part of our investigation," CHP Commissioner Mike Brown said.

A worker at a nearby sewage treatment plant, Isaac Rodriguez, said he spotted Mosqueda on the connector ramp above as the fire raged.

"I believe he was in shock. He didn't know how badly he was burned," said Rodriguez, who added that he later regretted not trying to get someone to find Mosqueda and pick him up.

"It looked at one point like he was going to go back to the truck," Rodriguez said. "I told him, 'Get out of there!' "

Mosqueda has worked in the past with the Sacramento Valley chapter of Teen Challenge, an international Christian ministry that runs centers for people struggling with addiction and other "life-controlling" problems, according to Escalante.

"If he walked away, it's only because the Lord was with him," said Escalante.

Mosqueda directed a program in which people would donate cars that would then be sold, with the proceeds helping to fund the centers, said the Rev. Dick Rhoads, executive director of the Teen Challenge chapter.

Escalante said Mosqueda, an unmarried father of two boys and a girl, "always wanted to drive trucks." At first, he drove loads of tomatoes, but he recently began driving fuel trucks, Escalante said.

"He knew it was dangerous," Escalante said. "It was exciting for him."