Gasoline Tanker Crash Triggers Massive Fire, Extensive Damage, Traffic Delays

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

A gasoline tanker truck, which was hauling more than 8,000 gallons of fuel, collided head-on with a sport-utility vehicle on South Main Street early on the morning of Saturday, September 27, igniting an immense fire that burned for several hours, causing extensive property damage and widespread traffic delays.

Fred H. Mehin, 63, of 659 Middlebury Road, Middlebury, was driving a tractor-trailer gasoline tanker truck, owned by R.J. Guerrera, Inc of Beacon Falls, northward on South Main Street about 2:12 am, as motorist John Riguzzi, 31, of 5 Walker Hill Road, Sandy Hook, was driving a 2002 Nissan X-Terra sport-utility vehicle southward. The Nissan crossed the road's centerline and collided head-on with the tanker truck in the northbound lane, police said. The collision occurred about 200 feet south of South Main Street's southernmost intersection with Elm Drive.

The crash caused a massive fire, fueled by the 8,000 gallons of gasoline, that burned for several hours. Both the tanker truck and the Nissan were consumed and destroyed by the flames. During the first 30 minutes of the fire, flames shot up more than 100 feet from the violently burning gasoline tanker. A tall plume of black smoke rose straight up into the night sky. The fire burned until about 5:30 am.

Mehin, who received a burn on his face, was able to get away from the tanker truck after the crash. Mehin was treated for injuries at the scene by the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps, police said. Mehin was hauling the load of gasoline from Bridgeport to Danbury.

An unidentified passerby pulled Riguzzi from the Nissan. Three firefighters later pulled Riguzzi away from the wreckage. The ambulance corps transported Riguzzi, who had serious injuries, to Danbury Hospital, where he was admitted as a patient. He reportedly received a broken leg and other injuries in the crash. Riguzzi was listed in fair condition Wednesday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman said.

After the crash, about a dozen people who were living in two houses near the accident were evacuated from the area to safety by police and firefighters, police said.

Newtown Hook and Ladder, Botsford, and Sandy Hook firefighters went to the accident. Hawleyville firefighters were stationed in the Newtown Hook and Ladder firehouse during the incident. Southbury firefighters covered the Sandy Hook firehouse. Firefighting-foam tankers were dispatched to Newtown from Waterbury and Fairfield.

refighting-foam tankers were dispatched to Newtown from Waterbury and Fairfield.

Newtown Hook and Ladder Fire Chief Dave Ober was the incident commander for firefighters.

Fire Damage

The fire caused nearby lawns and trees to ignite, along with utility lines strung on poles along the northbound side of South Main Street, police said. Electrical power, telephone service, and cable television utilities failed in the area due to damage from the intensely burning fire.

The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) went to the accident to inspect for water and soil contamination due to spilled gasoline. Fleet Environmental Services of Bethel did cleanup work.

Town police called in state police for aid in investigating the fiery crash. The accident remains under investigation. No charges have been filed.

Police Lieutenant James Mooney is supervising the accident investigation for police. “It’s going to require a thorough investigation,” he said. The investigation is expected to take a number of weeks.

Physical evidence found at the scene indicates that the southbound Nissan had crossed into the northbound lane before the head-on collision occurred, the lieutenant said.

Police interviewed Riguzzi at Danbury Hospital on Monday.

 “We know what occurred. Now we’re investigating why it occurred,” the lieutenant said.

“As bad as it was, as terrible an incident as it was, it could have been much worse,” he said.

If residences and businesses in the area had caught fire, damage would have been much worse, he added.

“When I first arrived on the scene, and saw the extent of the damage, I was shocked,” the lieutenant said.

The crash and its aftermath caused police to close the heavily traveled South Main Street to through-traffic for approximately 20 hours, after which alternating one-way traffic was restored. It was not until about 8 pm Sunday night, about 42 hours after the accident occurred, that two-way traffic resumed on the street.

Following the crash, police created detours to divert the normally heavy South Main Street traffic away from the accident scene. One prime detour diverted both directions of South Main Street traffic onto Wasserman Way, Mile Hill Road South, Turkey Hill Road, and Pecks Lane. Those narrow streets became clogged with heavy traffic.

Traffic moved slowly through the affected area this week, as needed repairs were made to damaged utility lines. Workers also trucked away contaminated soil.

Pavement damage caused by the intensely hot fire will require a section of South Main Street to be repaved.

It is expected that mre than 500 cubic yards of soil will need to be removed from the area. It is estimated that less than 500 gallons of unburned gasoline drained away from the accident scene to property along the east side of South Main Street. Some of the draining gasoline entered a stormwater catch basin and then drained through a storm sewer toward a swampy area. A groundwater-quality sampling well may be needed in the area.

Lt Mooney said the South Main Street gasoline tanker accident was the most destructive accident to occur in Newtown since an October 1996 gasoline tanker accident in Dodgingtown. In that crash, a tractor-trailer gasoline tanker hauling 9,000 gallons of fuel westward on Route 302 in Dodgingtown went out of control on a sharp curve near Hattertown Road, rolled over, exploded and caught fire in the parking lot of George’s Pizza. Truck driver David Wagenblas, 28, of Stratford died in that crash, which caused a huge fire, extensive property damage, and much soil and groundwater contamination.

Of the South Main Street crash, Lt Mooney said, “This was a major incident. I would not be upset if I never saw another one.”

Considering the magnitude and intensity of the accident, it was amazing that there were no fatalities, he said. It is unclear how much it will cost to repair all the damage caused by the crash, he said.

“Definitely, accolades to the fire department. They handled it correctly. They minimized the impact to the environment. They did a very professional job,” Lt Mooney said.

Fire Chief

Fire Chief Dave Ober said that on arriving, firefighters encountered a considerable fire in which the breached gasoline tanker was burning furiously, shooting spits of flame more than 100 feet upward. Firefighters stayed back about 175 feet from the tanker, he said.

Newtown Hook and Ladder, Botsford, and Sandy Hook firefighters stood by at the scene. About 75 firefighters responded, Chief Ober said. They used about ten fire trucks.

The intense fire scorched nearby utility poles. Firefighters wetted down nearby buildings to prevent them from igniting, the fire chief said. Two houses in the area are used as residences. Those houses contained four apartments. Also, two nearby houses are used as businesses. The closest structure to the fire was about 50 feet away.

It was decided to let the intensely burning gasoline tanker consume its fuel and burn itself out, Chief Ober said. It was environmentally safer to allow the fire to burn itself out than to actively extinguish it and risk the possibility of increasing the area contaminated by gasoline, he said.

The gasoline tanker burned until about 5:30 am before its fuel was consumed, he said. The fire burned most intensely for the first 30 minutes. As the tanker burned, its aluminum walls melted away from the heat. That intensely hot molten aluminum damaged the South Main Street asphalt, requiring that it be repaved.

As an environmental precaution, firefighters had an earthen dike constructed downslope on South Main Street, north of the fire, to serve as a dam in the event that the burning tanker dropped its load of flaming gasoline onto the street, the fire chief said.

Hook and Ladder firefighters Lee and Rob Manna using an LRM, Inc, landscaping truck and also using a Michael Burton Builders truck brought sand to the scene to create a dike, the fire chief said. Michael Burton is a Sandy Hook firefighter. The town highway department also brought sand to the scene for dike construction. Fortunately, the gasoline tanker did not burst.

Firefighters stayed at the scene for about 13 hours.

South Main Street carries heavy volumes of traffic and the potential for such fiery catastrophes is always present, Chief Ober said.

“The cooperation from all agencies involved was tremendous,” he said.

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal lauded town workers for their efforts in dealing with the tanker truck fire. Firefighters, police officers, and public works staffers handled their duties well in the incident, he said. The decision to let the fire burn itself out, instead of trying to put it out, proved to be a wise one, the first selectman said.

“As terrible as it was, it could have been really bad,” he said.

 (Newtown Bee reporter Shannon Hicks contributed to this story.)