Propane Truck Rolls Over In Fletcher

[Henry]

Fairfax Fire & Rescue responded to a propane truck that rolled over on Red Maple Drive in Fletcher.  Police attributed the rollover to inattention by the driver.  Saw two big Charlebois wreckers go by my house to upright the tanker.  No propane was list or injuries occurred .

[Henry]

Propane truck accident in Fletcher

Posted: Jun 15, 2014 4:20 PM EDT
Updated: Jun 15, 2014 4:24 PM EDT
By WCAX News - bio | email
 
FLETCHER, Vt. - A close call in Fletcher involving a propane truck. 

It happened Saturday afternoon on Red Maple Drive.  According the state police, the truck left the roadway on a soft shoulder and flipped onto its side.  Police say driver inattention was likely to blame.  The road was closed while the truck was emptied of the propane.  Police say no propane leaked as a result of the accident and the driver was not injured.   

[HayesFXFD17]

Although VSP states driver inatentiveness may be partly to blame I want to call out the fact that this is a private road that serves 3-4 houses and is no wider than the propane truck.  The upper part of the road also had no shoulders with very soft stone about 1 foot in on each side of 10' foot road.  People who live on these types of road for priviacy truely need to understand that public services are limited based on the road.  There is no way if it was Winter time that ANY FXFD truck can access the upper houses.  Based on the road as it presented on Saturday afternoon we could get our engine (NO Ladder and No Tanker Shuttle) at least most of the way up but firefighting operations would be extremly hampered and delayed. 

This call is a great examply why the fire department has worked so hard to have zoning laws in Fairfax; that required 16' driveways and 24' roadways each with 2' shoulders on top of those maintained widths.  If the truck had been leaking propane and we had to inniate water flow operations I am not sure how sucessful we would have been.

Justin Hayes, CFI
Fire Chief