Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 5, 1990 TAG: 9004041094
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: KEVIN KITTREDGE SHENANDOAH BUREAU
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Emergency workers began pouring into the accident site north of here shortly after the 9 a.m. accident, worried the leaking propane would explode.
Witnesses said the propane, which expands rapidly as it turns from liquid into gas, made a visible cloud.
Residents within a quarter-mile were evacuated until the danger passed Wednesday afternoon. A Wal-Mart and surrounding stores were closed for much of the day. Electricity and natural gas lines in the area were shut off to lessen the threat of fire, said Rockbridge County Administrator Don Austin.
"With any kind of pressurized tank, you stand a chance of an explosion in the event of a leak," said W.T. "Tommie" Crozier, a hazardous materials officer for the state Department of Emergency Services who was at the accident site.
Crozier said cool weather and stiff winds helped sweep the gas away without mishap.
Neither driver was seriously hurt, police said.
The tank truck was driven by Graham Flint, 27, of Buena Vista. Flint is an employee of Dixie Gas & Oil Corp. of Verona, company officials said. He was treated for minor injuries, said state Trooper Steve Canada.
The tractor-trailer rig was hauling garbage from Brooklyn, N.Y., to the Kim-Stan landfill 40 miles away, said its driver, 40-year-old Shahid Abdul Muhammed of Richmond.
The garbage did not spill.
Muhammed was making a U-turn from the northbound to the southbound lanes of U.S. 11, a divided highway, according to state police.
"I had to swing to the right to make the U," explained Muhammed. "He [Flint] was in the right lane and obviously thought he could get around me. He hit the tail end of my truck - tore off a light. The second time he hit me, I saw his tail end go into the air, and he went over."
Muhammed said he parked his truck on the side of the road and ran back.
"I thought he was dead. By the time I got back, he was getting out. I said, `What you got in that tank?' He said, `Propane.' I said, `Let's get the hell out of here.' "
Both drivers were charged with reckless driving, the trooper said.
Efforts to reach Flint Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.
Dixie Gas & Oil officials said Flint appeared to have acted properly. "He did what he was supposed to, as far as I know," said Daniel Alexander, the company's secretary-treasurer.
He said Flint, who was beginning his day's round of propane deliveries when the accident occurred, had been with the company several years.
The truck was uprighted and hauled away about 2 p.m., and the highway was reopened shortly afterward.
Area fire departments, the Rockbridge County Sheriff's Department and state police were at the site by midmorning. Firefighters from Roanoke and Salem were brought in later because of their training in dealing with hazardous materials, according to Sgt. L.B. Jarvis of the state police.
Jarvis said the propane leakage occurred in the truck's bypass hose. Dixie Gas & Oil workers eventually shut off a valve, he said.
After that, workers still had to make certain the tank was secure and that the truck could be safely towed, Jarvis said.
Propane occurs naturally in petroleum, and is used as a fuel and in aerosols. U.S. Department of Transportation manuals label propane as "extremely flammable," ignitable by heat, spark and flame.
Emergency services officials said there was little cleanup to do once the truck was gone, because once the propane left the pressurized tank it turned quickly into gas.
by CNB