Tanker Rollover Turns
HazMat for Evans Center

Members of the Southtowns Hazardous Materials Response Team were called in to assist the Evans Center Fire Company at the scene of a tanker truck rollover on April 30, 1999.

The tank truck, carrying various colors of printers inks, left the roadway, striking  a patch of trees in the center median of the New York State (NYS) Thruway near milepost 453 eastbound.  The driver indicated she swerved to avoid a herd of deer and lost control when the crash occurred around 7:30am.

Evans Center, who protects approximately 15 miles of Thruway between Hamburg and Silver Creek, called for HazMat support after arriving on location and determining the truck’s placards indicated potential hazards.  The Irving and Silver Creek Fire Departments were already on location when Evans Center’s Assistant Chiefs Bob Zamrok and John Latimore arrived and assumed command of the operations.

The placards tagged with UN#1210 indicated that the product was considered to be highly flammable and extremely toxic when exposed to air.  In light of this risk, a hot zone was established, emergency crews were moved back a safe distance, and both the east and westbound lanes of the Thruway were shut down between the Eden-Angola Exit 57A and Silver Creek Exit 58.  The decision was made in cooperation with the New York State Police and Thruway Authority on one of the busiest travel holidays of the year – Easter weekend.

Twenty to thirty homes around the crash were evacuated until it was determined to be safe to return.

Additional resources for water, foam and EMS were called in from several surrounding departments for on scene or standby support.  Representatives from the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Office of Fire Prevention and Control (OFPC), and the Erie and Chautauqua County Departments of Emergency Services were dispatched to the scene.

Notifications were made to the Chemtrec National Response Center, New York State Warning Point as well as the manufacturer of the materials on board the tanker.  Although it was not one of their trucks, a representative from Chemical Lehman Tank Lines came to the scene to evaluate the tank’s integrity.

Evans Center set up hose line protection at the edge of the Hot Zone and was backed up by a team from the Eden Fire Department – their primary mutual aid partner on the Thruway.

The HazMat team performed an initial survey using Level B protection to evaluate the extent of damage to the tanker.  The truck contained 5,100+ gallons of printers’ ink stored in five different compartments.  The survey determined that only about five gallons had leaked out.

After completing the survey and conferring with all of the agencies on location, it was determined that there was a minimal hazard and the Thruway was reopened after six hours – alleviating the huge congestion on the supporting roadways used to bypass the Thruway exits.

The driver of the truck sustained chest injuries and her husband suffered a broken leg.  Both occupants were treated and transported by the Irving and Silver Creek Fire Departments to Lake Shore Hospital located about two miles from the site.

While Southtowns HazMat and the other departments were released, Evans Center along with a water tank truck from Brant were soon called back to the scene to provide fire protection while a spill containment contractor offloaded the product and uprighted the tractor-trailer.  Evans Center remained on location until the cleanup effort was completed at 6am the following morning.

PHOTO CAPTION:

A HazMat cleanup contractor heads toward a tanker truck that rolled over in the center median of the New York State Thruway on April 30.  The placard tagged with UN#1210 indicated that the product was considered to be highly flammable and extremely toxic when exposed to air.