A tanker crashed into a building in Long Island, New York, on Wednesday morning and ignited into a major fire made worse by the 9,200 gallons of gasoline the truck contained, according to local authorities.
The truck driver and three firefighters were injured in the fire. The truck driver was able to remove himself from the truck just after the crash and was transported to a local hospital. The three firefighters were part of the response team and were also transported to the hospital, according to Nassau County Chief Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro.
“There’s no threat to the environment at the moment,” Uttaro said, according to the Associated Press. “There’s no threat to any of the citizens or any homes.”
Uttaro added that the fuel got into local creeks and the sewer system but that the damage and the leak have been contained.
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The crash occurred at approximately 1 a.m. Wednesday, and officials got the call around 1:10 a.m., according to James Avondet, the fire chief for the village of Rockville Centre. The large tanker had crashed into a liquor store and a La-Z-Boy furniture store that got destroyed in the fire, and another building was damaged.
“When I came here, there was fire everywhere, the streets, the tanker, the two buildings, and when I looked down Sunrise Highway, there was fire coming out of seven or eight manhole covers. It’s one of the worst things I’ve seen in my 47-year career,” Avondet said. “We’re very glad if it was going to happen it happened at one o’clock in the morning with nobody else around.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement that several state agencies are helping to limit the damage caused by the crash. Among those are the Department of Transportation, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Coast Guard, and over 150 firefighters.
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The local traffic management company said to expect delays in the area during rush hour as traffic was blocked in both directions near the crash site.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. However, the truck driver said someone cut him off unexpectedly, officials told local news station News 12.
