SUGARLOAF - A 3,000-gallon propane tanker flipped onto its side Monday in Sugarloaf Township, releasing gas vapors into the air, injuring the driver and shutting down a two-lane highway for hours.
The unidentified driver, whose vehicle was found on the west berm of state Route 93 near the Nescopeck Creek bridge, was taken by ambulance to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville for treatment of lacerations.
He was found conscious outside the vehicle by Sugarloaf Township Fire Chief Duane Hildebrand, who arrived shortly after the 9 a.m. dispatch for help by Luzerne County 911. No other injuries were reported.
Traffic was shut down on Route 93 from Main Street to East County Road. Conyngham police and fire police directed traffic to detours.
Fire personnel and other emergency workers remained at the scene until 3:15 p.m., carefully and cautiously moving as they quelled the gas leak coming from the tanker marked with the business name - Heller's - until the leak was plugged and the propane and truck were removed from the scene safely.
Sugarloaf police said the driver was heading south when a drink fell on the floor of his cab beneath the gas pedal. As he tried to get to the drink, the vehicle overturned as it hit a tree, scattering pine tree branches onto the road.
For hours after the tanker tipped, a white, fog-like mist of propane rose from the disabled vehicle, with firefighters keeping it under control by dousing it with water.
Hildebrand said propane is heavier than air, explaining why the mist coming from the tanker hung low to the ground.
Luzerne County Emergency Management Director Steve Bekanich said because the gas is very cold it froze upon contact with the water, creating ice on the leak and quelling vapors from being released. Bekanich said firefighters did an "excellent job" controlling the release of the gas. Bekanich said emergency responders had to be careful tending to the leak because they didn't want to make the damage any worse.
Once the leak was contained, Bekanich said officials had some time to evaluate the leak and find the best way to resolve it. Employing the use of a safety valve, gas company employees removed a pipe on the truck that was leaking the gas and repaired it, Sugarloaf Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Buss said. Initial reports from the fire department indicated the company was going to burn off the gas; however, that was not needed because the gas company mechanic fixed the leak.
Bekanich said there was a concern of vapor build-up, which is a fire hazard. It didn't happen, as Bekanich said the Department of Environmental Protection and county Emergency Management Agency monitored air quality during the leak and didn't find propane concentrations. He said a hazardous materials team also investigated to ensure spilled fluids were removed.
Hildebrand said the propane left in the damaged truck, which was at 80 percent capacity before the crash, was transferred to another truck from the gas company and driven from the scene at 2:30 p.m. The damaged tanker was towed once the propane it was carrying was transferred.
Multiple water tanker trucks from many regional fire departments responded, trucking in water to a series of portable ponds on the Route 93 Nescopeck Creek bridge. Firefighters pumped water from those ponds through a 2½-inch hose snaked along the highway to the leaking vapors. Two firefighters held onto the hose, dousing the vapors with the water.
Buss said though where the wreck happened on Route 93 is heavily traveled, it isn't heavily populated and no evacuation was necessary.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation assisted.