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Gasoline tanker rolls over, explodes in Saugus
By adamg on Sat, 07/23/2011 - 7:56am
Video by Brian Nash.
One person died, two houses and a greenhouse also caught fire in the 2 a.m., eight-alarm explosion on Rte. 1 southbound, Stephen Walsh reports. Channel 5 reports six cars crashed and that gasoline from the truck got into a brook that then burst into flames in a neighborhood near Rte. 1, which is now shut.
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Comments
3rd Tanker fire in as many years?
I believe that this is the 3rd such incident in as many years in eastern MA (I seem to remember one at an Everett rotary last year and another the year before that, but I could be wrong).
Frankly, on my last few runs up to the north shore on Rt. 1, I have actually noticed what I thought was remarkably aggressive driving by guys who were carrying tens of thousands of gallons of a very flammable liquid (to be clear, the driving would have been "normal" Masshole stuff in a car, but I thought it was pretty nutsy in a tanker).
I was going to say.
Might be time to open up some more (or any) weigh stations and increase the size of some of the state and municipal truck teams.
Maybe ...
Divert some of those "don't take pictures of the big tanker" troopers to escorting - and monitoring the driving - of drivers hauling fuel loads through the Boston area. Consider also that sabotaging a tanker or embedding a driver to spill a load at a critical location to fry a senior center is much more the terrorist playbook than nailing the LNG deliveries.
Because our roads and bridges are a total cock-up, these loads are hauled through residential neighborhoods and narrow roadways all the way from Everett through Malden and Medford and Arlington. I've seen them driving very aggressively on stretches of Rt. 60 in West Medford and Medford Square(I saw a group of older people on a big church night surrounded one guy who not only was doing greater than 20 in a 20 zone but had the nerve to blast his horn and screech to a stop to avoid a very large group of people in the crosswalk - until a cop appeared to pull him over, hand him a ticket and diffuse the situation). These are areas where a spill could obliterate an entire neighborhood - especially when the tankers are doing 35mph and barely slow for the Winthrop Circle rotary.
I am writing to reply to your
I am writing to reply to your comment I am a truckers wife my husband hauls gas and I'm not saying that all truck drivers are safe but I will tell you my husband and many other drivers around the world would put their life in danger to prevent harm to others. Truck drivers like Neal Michaud who was the man who lost his life He was a great man who had family and friends who loved him and even though people want to point fingers and blame, its never a good thing to hurt others when they already are hurting, ask your self this if it was you how would you want to be remembered.
The incident two years ago
was in Revere at Brown Circle, where Route 107 (Lynn Marsh Road on one side and Broadway on the other) intersects with Route 60 (Squire Road on one side and American Legion Highway on the other).
Common factor in the Everett and Revere rollovers - excessive speed. More than likely, they will determine that speed was the cause of the Saugus one as well.
Tanker accidents
I am a truck driver. These truck drivers have to speed in order to make a decent living. A large number of us are paid by the stop. Not by the hour like most of you think. These companies are trying to save a few bucks, which they are, but they are also costing us drivers serious money. Therefore, we have to speed to make a reasonable wage.
There are days I only make about ten dollars per hour. How can this be fair with all the rules and regulations weighing on our shoulders. Then when there is an accident the truck driver is ALWAYS guilty until proven inocent.
Truck driving is on of the few careers in which if you make a mistake, you loose your career. Without a perfect record you can only flip burgers. PLUS, your personal auto insurance rates go up.
How can anyone say this is a good career? How can anyone criticize us? Poor pay, poor bennifits, very unappreciated...
Southbound traffic is being
Southbound traffic is being forced off at Lynn Fells Parkway, then cuts back across Rt 1 on Main St, through Saugus Center, down Central St, thru Cliftondale Sq, down Lincoln Ave/Salem St, and you can get back on in Revere.
Northbound forced off at Copeland Circle, the same way, but you can get back on at Main St.
It's a mess here. Getting across town takes 3x-5x the usual trip, even knowing back roads and cuts.
There's Mass DOT, Red Cross, State Police, local police, and various other departments crawling all over the police.
I've never seen Rt 1 so... ghostly? It's really eerie to see no cars on it. There's ALWAYS cars.
Said detour
...if I understand you correctly -- brutal.
(I don't know how to do the embedded map thing. Probably just as well.)
Precisely
Yup, that's exactly it! Brutal indeed.
However it was unclear if the Salem Street exits were open or not. The highway may have been closed off as far as Copeland Circle, forcing people through Linden Square on Rt 60.
93Fast14
Had several pieces of 93 already ripped apart when this happened, so 93 is not likely going to be any better.
128 or 495 might be better options, despite the added distance.
A completed I-95 through the
A completed I-95 through the city would have benefits and drawbacks. Fewer large trucks on Route 1 would be a benefit.