The Boulder Fire Department responded Thursday to an overturned concrete pumper truck — which was in danger of falling into Boulder Creek behind the University of Colorado — after seeing it on the news.

The truck was on campus for work on the $156 million CU stadium expansion project when it tipped over at about 1:30 p.m.

Boulder police and fire spokeswoman Kim Kobel said no one at the construction site alerted the fire department to the overturned truck.

Members of a nearby fire crew became curious when they saw a news helicopter flying over the stadium.

“So they called one of their other stations to ask what was going on,” Kobel said. “That station happened to have seen this on the news. They contacted the battalion chief, and the battalion chief asked a nearby station crew to come over here and investigate and to see if we were needed.

“It turned out that was a good idea.”

CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said the university plans to look into why no one at the construction site called the police or fire department.

“It does appear that indeed the fire department responded on its own,” he said. “We’re certainly going to have to look into that as we debrief on the incident and try to figure out where the breakdown in communication was as to why the fire department wasn’t called.”

No one was inside the truck at the time of the accident, Hilliard and Kobel confirmed. Hilliard said the ground beneath the truck was wet.

“Basically, it’s a heavy truck on wet ground, and the ground just gave way and the truck tipped over on its side,” he said.

Two excavators helped prop up the concrete pumper truck and prevent it from tumbling into Boulder Creek. A hazardous materials team responded to the site because of concerns about the possibility of fluids from the truck leaking into the creek.

Construction crews had to cut the 34-meter boom pump from the truck because it was caught in trees and bushes, according to Kobel.

By 8 p.m., crews had turned the truck upright, Hilliard said, after first clamping off all areas where fluids could have leaked out.

As a precaution, crews put absorbent materials on the hillside and “oil booms” across the creek in case any petroleum leaked into the water, Hilliard said.

He said there was no early evidence of any fluid leakage into the creek.

“It’s a precaution to make sure (the fluids don’t) get into the creek,” he said.

Mortenson Construction is leading the expansion and renovation efforts at Folsom Field, but Hilliard said he wasn’t sure who was responsible for the concrete pumper truck.

This isn’t the CU stadium expansion project’s first mishap. In July, neighbors complained about losing sleep after crews worked through the night for several days in a row.

Sarah Kuta: 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta