One killed, one injured in fuel truck rollover

FALL RIVER, Mass. — Several hours after a tanker carrying 12,000 gallons of gasoline rolled over, killing the driver and seriously injuring another person, an army of firefighters, police and highway workers were still laboring to end the danger.

Firefighters arrived at the scene just south of the Airport Road overpass on Route 24 to find one man dead in a puddle of gasoline and a second man trapped and hurt in a crumpled car. Fuel was spilling out onto Route 24 in the predawn darkness Thursday.

In the meantime, traffic was snarled throughout the north end of the city.

A tanker truck driven by a 67-year-old man collided with a car on Route 24 northbound just after Exit 8A, the Airport Road exit into the industrial park.

The crash was first reported at 5 a.m. Temperatures were in the low 20s.

It wouldn’t be until shortly after 5 p.m. that Massachusetts State Police reported all lanes on both sides of the highway were reopened.

Firefighters arrived to find 100 gallons of gasoline on the ground and the driver laying in the roadway by the back of the truck, according to Fire Chief John Lynch.

“They pulled the fatal [away] from the truck and applied foam,” Lynch said.

The car was in the median. It was too damaged to easily determine its make, Lynch said. The driver, a 32-year-old man, was pried from the wreckage and taken to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence. He was reported in stable condition, Lynch said.

Officials have not yet released the name of either driver. But according to a WCVB reporter, the car driver is James Cadigan, of Fall River, who is listed in good condition at a hospital in Providence.

Firefighters covered the tanker with foam and set up dykes around it to contain the gasoline. Gasoline continued to drip from a hole in the side of a tank that was now under the vehicle, Lynch said. They contained the gasoline because they could not stop the leak, Lynch said.

Storm drains were covered to prevent gasoline from entering them.

The clean-up will be painstaking, Lynch said.

Firefighters donned silver jumpsuits, designed to protect them from fuel fires, before approaching the tanker.

A second tanker from Buzzards Bay Oil Co. was brought up Route 24, heading north in the southbound lane, and positioned near the overturned truck.

Hoses were stretched between the two tankers.

“They have to drill into the overturned tanks,” Lynch said. “Then they sink what they call stingers to pump out the fuel.”

The tanker has fuel in five separate compartments, Lynch said.

“Once the tanks are empty, they will fill the tanks with dry ice to suck any residual fumes before they try to right it,” he said.

Carbon dioxide solidifies into dry ice at about 70 degrees below zero. The gas expands as it melts back into vapor. An atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide prevents fires because there is not enough oxygen in the air to support flames.

Massachusetts State Police Capt. Michael Michno said the police and state transportation officials were warning drivers to avoid the area and Route 24. Southbound lanes on the highway were opened at 1:30 p.m.

Despite that, traffic backed up for miles during rush hour on Route 24, Route 79, North Main Street, Highland Avenue and Meridian Road.

State environmental officials were on the scene Thursday morning, along with commercial environmental clean-up crews.

Once the tanker is righted and hauled away, they will have to clear the fuel spill and the foam and then determine if the area is safe for traffic to pass, Lynch said.

“What will happen now is a long clean-up process,” Lynch said at 10 a.m. “This will take hours.”