Hockessin – At approximately 6:43 a.m. this morning, Monday June 5, 2017, a Peterbilt tractor-trailer, hauling soybean casings, overturned at the intersection of Lancaster Pike and Newport Gap Pike (Rt 41), spilling it’s load. As the truck overturned it slide across the road, pinning the cab of the truck against a guard rail, and quickly burst into flames.
Responding rescue crews from the Hockessin Fire Company found the truck fully involved upon their arrival. “Heavy smoke and flames were billowing from the cabin as we topped the hill”, one firefighter recalled.
As Hockessin began to fight the fire they learned that the driver was able to get out of the truck shortly before their arrival. Reports indicate that the fire started so quickly that the driver didn’t have time to grab his wallet or any of his personal belongings.
Hockessin fire crews quickly placed the fire under control as ambulance crews checked the driver for any injuries. It was determined by medical personal that the driver did not suffer any serious injures and he remained on scene.
Crews from DNREC along with Belvedere Fire Company’s HAZMAT team arrived on scene initially to cleanup a fuel spill. Once on scene DNREC pumped fuel from the truck’s fuel tanks into two fifty gallon barrels so that they could dispose of the fuel properly.
DNREC remained on scene to supervise the cleanup of the soy bean hulls that were dumped along the road and in a nearby yard.
No official cause has been released but reports from the scene indicate that the truck swerved to miss a car that had pulled in front of it.
At the time of posting (11:35 p.m.) the intersection remains closed as crews clear the scene.
