N.Y. Truck Carrying 13K Gallons of Propane Burns

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Nov. 14--COLONIE -- A tanker truck shuttling more than 13,000 gallons of propane from Selkirk to Glens Falls caught fire Monday morning on Route 7, forcing the portion of the busy road between the Northway and Interstate 787 to close during rush hour.

Francis Moon was driving west on Route 7 when he heard a loud popping noise coming from the engine, State Police said. The truck then lost power and Moon pulled over to the shoulder of the road. Moon then climbed out of the truck's cab as flames started jutting out from beneath the front of the vehicle, police said.

Moon, 56, of Red Hook, tried to put out the blaze with a small fire extinguisher after he called 911 at 6:49 a.m., said Joe Bisognano, a fire inspector for the Town of Colonie.

"(Moon) got out as soon as he could safely and tried to do what he could," Bisognano said.

Police closed Route 7 in both directions in between Latham and Troy while six fire engines from volunteer fire departments in Colonie worked to extinguish the blaze. Bisognano said the fire was contained within 15 to 20 minutes.

Police said they considered evacuating nearby homes, but decided it was not necessary because of how quickly the blaze was quelled.

No one was injured in the fire and the three-mile stretch of Route 7 was reopened in both directions by 8:30 a.m.

The road closure brought traffic going west out of Troy to a standstill for more than an hour. Cars were bumper to bumper up Hoosick Street for more than a mile.

"(The fire) happened at the worst possible time of day," Bisognano said.

Moon's tanker was filled with 13,198 gallons of liquid propane.

Bisognano said that though the tankers have safety devices, such as pressure release valves, the fire could have heated the tanker's exterior and caused the liquid propane to boil.

"There was a potential for some serious problems if the fire spread to the back of the tank," Bisognano said.

Fire crews used fire suppression foam and each truck sprayed over 500 gallons of water on the blazing tanker.

Piles of the snow-like foam were still spread along the side of Route 7 when the road reopened. The cab of Moon's trucked was charred and gutted.

Bisognano said crews were trained to deal with the potentially volatile prospect of the propane boiling, which would have caused a fire or explosion.

No propane was leaked and the tanker was not damaged, police said.

As of Monday afternoon, Bisognano said the cause of the fire was still undetermined, but was believed to have started in the engine due to a mechanical problem.

Moon could not be reached for comment Monday. Representatives for the company Moon was transporting the liquid propane for, LP Transportation Inc. in the town of Chester, Orange County, could not be reached for comment either.

Liquid propane is a highly-flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases commonly used to heat vehicles and appliances.

In March, hundreds of residents were evacuated out of homes and business in Rensselaer County after a tanker carrying 9,500 gallons of the liquid propane overturned on Route 22 in Hoosick. The combustible fuel was safely burned off the day of the crash after the tanker began to leak.