LIE Tanker Fire

[Gerard]

This was pretty wild. My wife had gone out walking around 8AM when she called me and said there is a big
fire somewhere. Looked out my window and saw huge black smoke rising into the blue sky. Put on my scanner as
I dressed and learned it was somewhere by the LIE. Headed down Old Country Road and pulled into the hotel
parking lot just west of the LIE service road off Round Swamp. I wasnt the only one. As Nassau 5 flew low
overhead the smoke and flames billowed out of the truck with amazing intensity. There was a massive FD/PD
response from both counties as the accident was right on the border on the LIE. They even brought in
Fire/Rescue 1 Foam Truck from MacArthur Airport which was instrumental in putting out the blaze. And just
when you thought it was over it flared up again. Took probably about two hours to fully extinguish.
But traffic was a disaster as the highway was closed in both directions as the heat caused the overhead sign to
collapse.
Chopper 12 arrived later and learned that earlier a woman in a car involved in the crash was medevaced out to
NUMC.
Even saw a flight of 3 UH-60s out east heading SW bound.

[Gerard]

Its amazing the driving habits of people. 9 hours later and the LIE is still totally closed in both directions but people still are driving in from the east and west on the LIE and are caught up in horrendous traffic jams. There are so many alternatives to use and alerts are out all over on News radio, TV, internet etc.
People, cant figure them out. :? :?

[PhilDernerJr]

So what happened? I haven't heard anything about this. Gas tanker?

[flyboy 28]

Heard about this on the radio. The driver passed away.

[emshighway]

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/lie.tanker ... 44370.html (http://wcbstv.com/topstories/lie.tanker.fire.2.1444370.html)

[moose135]

I was on the eastbound Expressway around 8:30 Saturday morning, heading to FRG, and could see the thick black smoke ahead of me. As I got to Exit 46, Sunnyside Blvd, lots of cars were jumping off. Since traffic seemed to be moving ahead of me, I stayed on the LIE, but as I passed 46, I saw cars were heading up the on-ramp to get off the road. About that time, an NCPD Highway Patrol car came up the eastbound side headed westbound, and as he got to me, yelled "The road is closed" and pointed to the on-ramp. Made a U-turn and headed up the Exit 46 on-ramp to the service road. As I was headed up the ramp, the first HP cars were starting to block the roadway. I ended up bailing out of the service road at the first side road, so I never made it to the scene of the accident.

Here's a shot from the service road just past Exit 46:
http://www.moose135photography.com/photos/771923371_LWgma-L.jpg

I passed the scene going westbound around 11:30 Saturday night. The WB side was open, but the EB side was closed at Exit 44, Seaford/Oyster Bay Expressway through to Rt 110, and there was lots of DOT vehicles, including a paving machine, at work.

[Gerard]

You got out of there just in time as the traffic got worse as the day went on. People were driving around my neighborhood looking lost.
They reopened it sometime overnite. What a mess.

[PhilDernerJr]

This is gonna suck for gettin g out to my hockey game tonight!

[moose135]

You should be fine, Phil, they reopened the eastbound side about 4:30 this morning.

[hiss srq]

Even if it was still closed jump on the 135 down to Sunrise and than continue east. Sometimes that even works out faster when the LIE is a mess. The lights actually arent too bad on Sunrise from the 135 east.

[Gerard]

Its amazing the driving habits of people. 9 hours later and the LIE is still totally closed in both directions but people still are driving in from the east and west on the LIE and are caught up in horrendous traffic jams. There are so many alternatives to use and alerts are out all over on News radio, TV, internet etc.
People, cant figure them out. :? :?

The karma gods bit me in the ass today. Was on the Southern State leaving FRG and got caught in a jam
right before the Rt 107 WB exit. There was a car fire by the exit and traffic was stopped dead. Turned on the
radio and WINS traffic was reporting it.
Actually it wasnt so bad as the car was on the shoulder but still.........
:oops: :oops: :oops:

[PhilDernerJr]

Glad it's open. My hockey game is actually tonight (Monday). Don't know why I said "tonight" for yesterday.

[Big Tim #70]

I read an article in Newsday yesterday saying that the accident was caused by a lady traveling in the middle lane with her flashers on because her car had "Issues."

I can't tell you how much that infuriated me! If your car is having issues and you can't keep pace with traffic, MOVE RIGHT! I'm on the road most of the day and I see this kind of thing all the time. What are they teaching people in Drivers Education these days? I don't drive like a maniac but I usually set the Crusie @ 70mph on the expressway. If someone comes up behind me, I pull to the right and let them pass, I don't sit there in the middle or left lane and hold them up. The Tanker driver wasn't speeding, the woman was traveling between 35-45mph. When he tried to go around her, he clipped her rear quarter.

If I was that tanker drivers family, I would have some choice words for that woman, (Who was unhurt BTW).

[PhilDernerJr]

I hear that CA, they are making a law that you need to move to the right if someone is overtaking you.

If people want to drive slow, that's fine. Just do so in the far right lane. From what I hear about this crash, maybe her mech problems started and she was making her way over to the right lane? If that's the case, then it's not her fault. But if she was having these problems and was just cruising along in the middle still...then I'd blame her for the man's death.

[mirrodie]

Phil, while htat law is all good and fine, the problem is enforcing them.

How many cell phone violations can you count in a day? That is $$$$ to the state if only they were caught.

[PhilDernerJr]

I think a lot of the people that drive like idiots in such a way do so because they just don't know that they are doing something wrong. A law would create more awareness to it.

I'm glad the road is clear and repaved, but my threat for hockey tonight is this rain and rush hour traffic! I hope it clears up.

[USAF Pilot 07]

I hear that CA, they are making a law that you need to move to the right if someone is overtaking you.


Several states already have this law (Colorado comes to mind). The problem, like mirrodie said, is that it's never really enforced.

Impeding traffic is IMO way more dangerous than speeding but going with the flow of traffic...

[Gerard]

Phil, while htat law is all good and fine, the problem is enforcing them.

How many cell phone violations can you count in a day? That is $$$$ to the state if only they were caught.

How can they be caught when the cops are talking on thei$r own phones? :lol:

[hiss srq]

In Florida recently they enacted the no cell phones while driving law that has been on the books in NY for a while. It amuses me because the only people you actually see obeying the law is the police themselves. Cant wait to get the car I am buying for my eventual move down there. It has bluetooth built into it and a caller Id comes up on the nav screen. No tickets anymore for me!

[moose135]

I read an article in Newsday yesterday saying that the accident was caused by a lady traveling in the middle lane with her flashers on because her car had "Issues."
The story I read was that she had car problems, turned on her flashers, and was trying to get off the road when the truck ran up on her, not that she was cruising along like that. I can see how it would be difficult to get out of the way, when people are blowing by you at 70+mph, not caring that you are having a problem.

[Big Tim #70]

I read an article in Newsday yesterday saying that the accident was caused by a lady traveling in the middle lane with her flashers on because her car had "Issues."
The story I read was that she had car problems, turned on her flashers, and was trying to get off the road when the truck ran up on her, not that she was cruising along like that. I can see how it would be difficult to get out of the way, when people are blowing by you at 70+mph, not caring that you are having a problem.


Forgive me, I can't find the actual copy I was reading yesterday to cite, but that's not what it said when I read it. It said that she was "Having trouble keeping up with traffic due to a mechanical issue so she put on her flashers and was attempting to make it to her parents house in Farmingville." Plainview/Melville is a LONG way from Farmingville. It also said that cars were going around her on both sides so it's not likely that she was trying that hard to pull over.

I can tell you first hand that Massachuttes has a law that states that the left lane is for passing only and extended travel in the left lane could result in a citation. My mom got one of these tickets a few years back and it was like $200. I know for a fact that she only uses the left lane for passing these days.

[moose135]

I forget where I heard it - probably on the news over the weekend. But even if she was driving along having problems, you are ultimately responsible for keeping a safe distance from the vehicle ahead of you - how fast was the truck going, and what was he doing? What if someone was stalled in the lane? You need to pay attention to the road and traffic ahead.

[Big Tim #70]

No doubt, I agree 100%.

That being said, you & I both know that there are times when you're driving along and all of a sudden something is infront of you that you didn't notice, (for whatever reason) and you're suddenly taking evasive manuevers to avoid an accident. If the women was infact driving in the middle lane with car problems and her flashers on, she should be held responsible for the drivers death as she was creating a road hazard. The "BREAKDOWN" lane is there for a reason.

My whole point earlier is that I've seen this behavior many times in the past & for whatever reason, Long Island seems to be worse than most areas I've driven. I can only think that it a simple case of the driver not knowing the rules of the road.

[Gerard]

I forget where I heard it - probably on the news over the weekend. But even if she was driving along having problems, you are ultimately responsible for keeping a safe distance from the vehicle ahead of you - how fast was the truck going, and what was he doing? What if someone was stalled in the lane? You need to pay attention to the road and traffic ahead.

Someone wrote here that the truck driver wasnt speeding but I dont believe that has been
proven yet. Also in one article I read the driver of the car said maybe the sun was in his eyes as it
was around 8AM and possibly he was momentarily blinded? Whatever the Highway Patrol AI guys
will be the ones making the final determination. I guess we can be thankful there were no other
injuries and damage was at a minimum.