Wednesday, January 27, 2010

City firefighters douse blaze mere feet from gas pumps

Photo: City firefighters douse blaze mere feet from gas pumpsPhoto: City firefighters douse blaze mere feet from gas pumpsPhoto: City firefighters douse blaze mere feet from gas pumpsPhoto: City firefighters douse blaze mere feet from gas pumps

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - Firefighters quickly extinguished a raging truck fire that broke out next to a Shell gas station on Pleasant Street Tuesday morning.

The truck was fully engulfed in flames when the first firefighters arrived shortly after 9 a.m. at O'Connell Convenience Plus at 506 Pleasant St. The truck - which belonged to Eastern Connection Deliveries, a company out of East Hartford, Conn. - was parked just seven feet away from the walls of the gas station's convenience store, where thick clouds of smoke billowed into the sky, according to Fire Deputy David Gagne.

Many spectators at the scene feared the fire could escalate, given its close proximity to gas tanks, though firefighters contained the blaze with marked efficiency. Police kept morning traffic moving in both directions on Pleasant Street.



Video courtesy of Dr. Roger Allcroft

The cause of the fire, Gagne said, was friction from a rear tire rubbing against the frame of the truck which ignited a fire in the cargo section. There were no reported injuries, he said, and there was no reported damage to the gas station itself.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.

No comments:

Post a Comment