
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 19, 1990                   TAG: 9004190540
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                 LENGTH: Short

GASOLINE TRUCK DRIVER DIES IN FIRE AFTER WRECK

The driver of a tanker truck carrying gasoline was killed Wednesday and two others were injured when the tanker collided with a dump truck and burned on U.S. 360, state police said.

As many as 3,000 gallons of gasoline poured into the Chickahominy River near Mechanicsville. Hazardous materials teams worked to contain the spill, according to Dave Paylor of the state Water Control Board.

A 2 1/2-mile stretch of the highway near the Hanover-Henrico county line was still closed early Wednesday night. About 4,500 Virginia Power customers in the area were without power for 45 minutes and 1,600 still had no power Wednesday night.

State police identified the driver of the tanker as Stuart Douglas Woodland, 45, of Howertons. Woodland was a driver for P.M. Transport Inc. of Roanoke.

P.J. Trimmer, owner of the Fast-Trac Engine Center, said he tried to rescue Woodland.

"He was struggling to get through the broken windshield," he said. "But the flames and heat were just too much. We couldn't get anywhere near him. We just had to let him go."

State Trooper D.R. Reed said the dump truck apparantly pulled into the left lane in the path of Woodland's tractor-trailer.

The driver of the dump truck, Floyd Goode, 47, of Chesterfield County, was listed in stable condition at the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals.

"I can't remember a lot of what happened. Somebody hit me from behind and knocked my truck over," Goode said before being taken to MCV. "Just when I got out, a big ball of fire just blew up."

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB