Dec. 06--A tractor-trailer backed into a parked cab Wednesday at a Rutter's Farm Store in Newberry Township, triggering a diesel and propane spill and forcing a brief shutdown of Interstate 83.
Firefighters and hazmat personnel responded to the crash at 1:15 p.m. and found the two trucks in the rear of the store's lot at 2215 Old Trail Road, near its propane tanks.
The cab was parked -- its driver asleep inside -- when the tractor-trailer driver misjudged the distance to it while backing up his rig, Newberry Township Fire Department Chief Gary Hatterer said.
Emergency workers found that one of the saddle tanks on the cab had been ruptured in the crash, causing fuel to spill out, Hatterer said.
Also, it was initially thought that a propane tank that supplied the store had been ruptured, which led Hatterer to call for the shutdown of the southbound lanes of Interstate 83 Wednesday.
He was about to close the entire interstate down when firefighters discovered it was only a hose that had ruptured, and not the tank itself, Hatterer said.
He also had planned on evacuating the store and any other stores or residences around it, he said.
"It had potential," Hatterer said of the crash, but added he was relieved it was resolved quickly and without injury.
Had there been an explosion, shrapnel could have been propelled as far away as the opposite side of the interstate, he said.
Firefighters engineered a quick-fix for the ruptured propane line, then used absorbent sand to sop up the diesel fuel spill.
About 1:40 p.m., the tractor-trailer was pulled forward, detaching it from the cab. There were no injuries in the crash, Hatterer said.
To read more crime-related stories, click here.
Copyright 2012 - York Daily Record, Pa.
