Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 29, 1991 TAG: 9103290221
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE and RON BROWN STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: BOONES MILL LENGTH: Medium
One of the tanker's four cells was punctured by a wooden beam from the shed at Boones Mill Exxon, spilling about 500 gallons. The crash peeled back the top of the cab of the tractor-trailer, which belonged to Green Motor Lines of Richmond.
Virginia State Police were still waiting to question the driver of the truck, Michael A. Harris, 28, of Roanoke. He was listed in satisfactory condition Thursday night at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
Trooper D.W. Blessard, who works for the department's motor carrier safety unit, said inspectors found no mechanical reason for the crash.
A crew from Environmental Options Inc., a Rocky Mount company, cleaned away remnants of broken ceramics with a backhoe Thursday afternoon.
The gasoline was doused with a flame retardant foam and gathered in a large puddle more than 10 feet wide and 40 feet long, said David Katenkamp, president of Environmental Options.
Items covered with gasoline will have to be taken to landfills designed for hazardous materials.
"We've found all kinds of stuff," Katenkamp said. "There's pots and pans, plates and cups, pigs and rabbits and dogs and cats."
There also were a couple of headless Buddhas and a ceramic burro minus its tail and head.
Bobby Nichols, owner of the service station/ceramics outlet, said he arrived home just before the 2:30 a.m. accident. He had been on a business trip to Raleigh, N.C., to pick up some plants.
Nichols said he rushed to the road, where he saw two young men assisting Harris, who was lying in a parking lot on the other side of U.S. 220 from where the truck had crashed. Nichols said the two men yelled for him to get some towels.
Nichols called police dispatchers in between running towels out to the men, who took Harris to the hospital. Bloodstains were visible in the parking lot Thursday afternoon.
Nichols said there was a strong smell of gasoline everywhere.
"Those fumes could knock you down if you were walking," he said. "I was smoking, too, because I was so nervous. I could have blowed the whole place up myself."
The fumes also had emergency services workers nervous.
Claude Webster, public information officer for the Franklin County Department of Emergency Services, said crews had wanted to close the highway because of the danger from the gas leak. But two lanes were kept open because there was no practical north-south detour.
"Logistically, we just could not stop all the traffic on 220," Webster said.
Crews from Boones Mill, Rocky Mount, Scruggs, Callaway, Clearbrook and Cave Spring and the Virginia Department of Emergency Services helped with the cleanup.
Rescue workers said Harris - who has been a driver for Green Motor Lines since 1984 - was fortunate that his tanker missed the gasoline pumps, which were less than 15 yards from where he crashed.
Nichols, who has owned the business for 18 years, said it was not the first time his buildings have been involved in a crash.
"Oh hell, I wish it was," he said, recalling three previous accidents. "This is the worst I ever had. You can't give up. You got to keep on getting it."
by CNB