3007 But wait, that's not all....

Thursday, July 1, 2010

“If women are expected to do the same work as men,
we must teach them the same things.”
-- Plato --

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A little excitement on Tuesday, on route 9w in Esopus. A dump truck driver towing a trailer carrying construction equipment (a paver and a Bobcat) missed his turn and decided to make a U-turn. He pulled over to the right shoulder and started the turn (how! Route 9w at that point is not particularly wide. I'd hesitate to try to turn Suzie there!). He didn't notice a truck coming up behind him, and got clobbered broadside.

But wait, that's not all. The truck that hit him was a fuel oil truck, carrying 3,000 gallons of fuel oil. The oil tank ruptured, spewing oil on the road, and the oil caught fire.

But wait, that's not all. Both trucks and the trailer were engulfed in the burning oil (the drivers did get out and away in time) and the heat melted them (I heard the Bobcat became an unrecognizable lump). The fire was so hot it melted the propane gas line under the road. Which proceeded to leak gas.

But wait, that's not all. A warehouse next to the road, the building served by the gas line, caught fire and burned to the ground.

But wait, that's not all. The warehouse stored fireworks (possibly illegal, since private fireworks are illegal in NY), which of course caught fire.

A little excitement.

The Hairless Hunk told me about it yesterday. He works with a volunteer fireman who had been there. Then Vic the mechanic told me about it, too. It was just up the road from Captain Vantastic's shop, and almost across the road from Vic's house.

Local newspaper article here: http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2010/07/01/blotter/doc4c2c1e12f1f6d769584005.txt

Very short video here (turn the sound down):

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6hxzy5XwUk&feature=player_embedded]
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1280 Accident Photos

Sunday, June 3, 2007



I finally got the photos of the accident on the NYS Thruway, May 28, 2007. The one I got stuck behind coming home from the Memorial Day weekend Maryland Mensa gathering. (One of these days I'll have to learn how to use the digital camera. Until then, we have to wait for me to fill a roll and get them developed.)

I don't usually immediately think of a camera, so by the time I did, the emergency vehicles had arrived, and the fire was almost out. So these photos don't show the billowing black smoke it started with. My car was stopped closer than the photos would seem to imply, too. Somehow the camera adds distance or something.



By the time the fire was out, more emergency vehicles had arrived:

Taken through my windshield. What's left of the minivan is on the flatbed. Note that all that's left of the truck trailer is the back door and a frame.
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1272 Further Info on the Thruway Accident

Tuesday, May 29, 2007



Found a news piece:

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070529/NEWS03/705290330/-1/NEWS020



It probably won't be available forever, so here's the text:

Only minor injuries in fiery Thruway crash in Sloatsburg

By SARAH NETTERTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: May 29, 2007)

SLOATSBURG - No one was seriously injured in a Memorial Day accident that charred two vehicles and halted traffic on the New York State Thruway.

Jackson Julien, the driver of a tractor-trailer, said he was in the northbound middle lane about a mile north of Exit 15A when the driver of a sport utility vehicle attempted to move left from the right lane.

Julien said he tried to move into the left lane to compensate, but hit another car with his trailer. The truck jackknifed and crashed into the guardrail, taking the SUV with it, and burst into flames, sending plumes of black smoke high into the sky.

"The lady said she didn't see me," he said, referring to the SUV's driver.

Sgt. Christine Revella of the state police confirmed that the woman in the SUV "said she never saw a truck" and that police were going by Julien's account.

The northbound Thruway was closed for about an hour and was gradually opened.

Rockland Paramedic Services Capt. Bo Tunno said the woman, her husband and their child, who was about 2, were taken by Sloatsburg Volunteer Ambulance Corps to Good Samaritan Hospital.
The man and child were taken for observation, Tunno said, and the woman complained of pain in her right shoulder.

Tunno said Julien complained of pain on his left side, but repeatedly refused medical treatment.
"We attempted a few times," he said. "We almost had him in the ambulance once, but he did not want to go with us."

Instead, Julien paced the tandem trailer parking lot just south of the accident, watching the traffic and smoking a cigarette.

"I'm OK," he said.

A crew from the Ramapo Valley Ambulance Corps was the first on the scene. First Lt. Patrick McKiernan said the first thing he saw was a plume of smoke. The crash victims were out of their vehicles, he said, so they started triage, first under the tandem lot overpass and then in the lot itself.

"I think they were just in shock as to the whole situation," he said.

McKiernan said bystanders were told to get back into their cars and roll up their windows, as emergency workers didn't know what might be burning in the truck. [Silk edit - Um, no. I was only six cars back, and nobody told me to roll up windows.]

Julien said later that his trailer was empty.

Steve and Kim Leon and their two children were on the way from their home in the Bronx to a barbecue upstate.

They didn't see the accident happen, but were among the first cars stuck behind the emergency vehicles.

"We heard tires popping, debris flying," Steve Leon said. "Lots of black smoke.

"And we also witnessed cars zooming by it," he said.

Wagdi Gobrial and his wife, Mary, of Edison, N.J., were on their way to the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets when they drove up just behind the accident.

"When we got closer, we saw flames shooting up to the sky," Gobrial said.

Like many others trapped on the Thruway, Gobrial got out of his car and watched emergency workers, even taking the time to light a cigarette. Some drivers turned off their engines, while others left them running to keep the air conditioning on. Some climbed through sunroofs to get a better view.

Also on the scene were volunteers from the Sloatsburg, Hillburn, Suffern and Tuxedo fire departments.
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