EVERETT, Mass. (AP) – A dazed John Malone grabbed his pants after an explosion shook him from bed Wednesday, intending to check out the flames from an overturned fuel tanker he saw from his window.
Then he noticed the river of burning fuel flowing from the tanker toward his apartment.
“As the river went, the fire went with it” said Malone, a 28-year-old machinist. “I just grabbed my girlfriend and her aunt and ran.”
Malone wasn’t hurt, and safety officials were surprised and grateful that no one else was either after the accident early Wednesday morning that spilled 9,400 gallons of burning fuel into a sleeping community. Witnesses said a 10-foot wall of flame flowed through the neighborhood below a rotary where the tanker flipped, blowing up cars and destroying two triple-deckers, including Malone’s.
Nearby residents were hastily evacuated, including about 84 residents of an elderly housing complex and 10 to 12 families that lost their homes in the fire.
Firefighters’ efforts initially were hampered by frozen hydrants and icy conditions in the freezing temperatures, but they were able to contain the fire in this suburban Boston city.
By mid-morning, as the smell of fuel and burning wood mixed, firefighters continued to pour water on one of the ruined three-decker homes, about 100 yards from where the tanker flipped. Two light poles that partially melted and collapsed during the explosion lay across the road near a line of burned-out cars, all encased in ice.
State police said the driver of the tanker, Chad LaFrance, 30, of Dover, N.H., was driving too fast in the rotary connecting Routes 16 and 99 when the tanker flipped and hit a guardrail at around 1:40 a.m. He was cited for speeding and for not carrying his medical certificate, which verifies his health.
LaFrance, who was uninjured, worked for Abenaqui Carriers, Inc. of North Hampton, N.H., state police said. Several messages left at the company were not returned Wednesday.
New Hampshire licensing records show LaFrance has a valid commercial driver’s license, and minor violations in his personal vehicle, including speeding and failing to have his vehicle inspected.
The corporate entity that owns Abenaqui, P.S. Marston Associates LLC, has 83 commercial trucks and 105 drivers that have been involved in four accidents in New England – none involving fatalities – during the past two years, according to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records.
Over the past two years, the carrier has better than average vehicle inspections records and was given a “satisfactory” rating, according to the federal records through Nov. 29. Company president Paul Marston told WBZ-TV that he was thankful no one was seriously hurt, and said he was concerned about the families that lost their homes.
“We’ve got to assess the situation and we’ve got to do right by them,” he said.
Everett Deputy Fire Chief Michael Ragucci said after the tanker ruptured, the spilled fuel was likely ignited by the truck’s catalytic converter or muffler. It moved down a rotary onramp curling around a corner to Main Street, where the triple-deckers were destroyed.
Ragucci said he arrived on the scene and saw “fire flowing” between buildings and parked cars, which began exploding in succession.
“It was weird to witness,” he said.
Most of the gasoline appeared to have dispersed or burned before reaching storm drains that lead to nearby rivers, Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Amy Thomas said.
“In consideration of everything the firefighters at the scene had to deal with, I think it’s a miracle that we haven’t seen any serious injuries,” Everett Fire Chief David Butler said.
Michael Lanier, 17, was wearing shorts in the freezing cold outside the local armory where residents were evacuated Wednesday. He said he went outside his apartment near the explosion, and the smoke was so thick he could barely see the flames.
“It was chaos,” he said. “People running, telling people to evacuate.”
Dylan Constantine, 32, said he was half asleep watching TV when an explosion that “sounded like a shotgun blast” jolted him wide awake. He roused his roommates and they took off outside, where they had to jump through a wall of burning fuel that was flowing past his house.
Outside, cars were exploding one after the other, and Constantine noticed one man trying to drive away in a burning vehicle before abandoning it.
“We were scared the whole street was going to go up,” said Constantine, whose house was spared. “It’s amazing everybody got out of their houses.”
As he watched the fire burn, Constantine saw through the window of one of the burning homes a Christmas tree that was staying lit even as the fire burned and water poured around it.
“Best-lasting Christmas tree bulbs I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said.
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