Fuel truck takes out pole, snarling traffic all day
July 11, 2008
Thursday morning at 7:45 a.m. a Burke truck full of heating oil headed southbound on 117 swerved to avoid a head on collision with a northbound truck that had crossed over the yellow line.
Once the Burke driver’s right wheels dropped onto the shoulder of the road, the ridge along the drop held his tires as though on a track, keeping him on a path that forced him to collide nose first with a Con Ed pole at the corner of 117 and Cowdin Lane, breaking it down on the truck. Though its front was smashed on the passenger side, sagging wires held the pole inches from the top of the cab.
A passerby, a police officer and Chappaqua Fire Chief Russell Maitland assisted the driver from the vehicle. His injuries appeared to be minor; Chappaqua Volunteer Ambulance transported him to Northern Westchester Hospital.
The fire department remained on scene while Con Ed responders killed power to the lines and secured the wires above so that the truck could be removed. Though sagging with their broken pole, the wires never ruptured.
The truck carried 27,000 pounds of No. 2 fuel oil. At seven gallons to the pound, it was about 4,000 gallons of oil. Its cargo tank was unharmed. Con Ed called for an empty Burke oil truck so workers could pump the oil from the disabled truck into the empty one, lightening the load for the tow truck.
Traffic was diverted east across Kittle and Annendale all day, with Cowdin residents allowed in and out of their street from time to time.
By 6:00 p.m. workers in two 60-foot cherry pickers were setting a new pole with the help of an hydraulic crane. The Con Ed manager of the scene said that if the top, primary wire had snapped and made contact with the truck, an very large explosion would have been likely.
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