By:Jeff Lipton
Residents said that police knocked on their doors and asked them to leave their homes because of the possibility of a severe gas leak from the tanker, which crashed at Peninsula Boulevard and Rockaway Turnpike at about 7:10 p.m. on Oct. 16.
Residents said they were frightened, not knowing if the tanker would explode. "Oh, yeah, there was concern," said Marilyn Bromley, a resident of Albermarle Place. "We are very thankful. We were afraid that something could ignite it. I heard that the tanker was fully loaded with 12,000 gallons of gas. It was a little scary."
Bromley said she was not at home at the time, but when she tried to reach her block, she was told by police that it was being evacuated.
According to police, a 2004 Mack tractor-trailer, used to transport gasoline and owned by Island Transport of North Babylon, was traveling northeast on Bay Boulevard when it collided with a southwest-bound Volvo on Peninsula Boulevard.
The truck, which was driven by Ryan N. Bellamy, 25, of Tamarack Street in Central Islip, slammed into the Volvo as the car was making a left onto Rockaway Turnpike, according to Detective Lieutenant Kevin Smith, a Nassau County police spokesman.
After ricocheting off the Volvo, the tanker traveled another 100 feet and struck a 1999 Buick stopped in traffic in the southwest-bound lanes of Peninsula Boulevard, police said. The tanker then ran over two trees, two Town of Hempstead signs and a fence before flipping onto its side and onto a 2001 Ford SUV parked on Peninsula Boulevard, about 100 feet east of Rockaway Turnpike, authorities said.
Some 200 firefighters arrived on the scene and, under the direction of First Assistant Chief Edward Koehler of the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department, secured the area. "The potential for a large-scale disaster was absolutely present," said Koehler. "I worked 24 years with the fire department and I never saw anything like this."
He said that about 200 gallons of gas spilled onto the ground, but was caught by area dry wells, which were later cleaned out by an environmental services company.
Firefighters quickly covered the area and grounds with foam to tamp down the vapors, Koehler said.
The driver of the Volvo, identified as Edey Winfield, 70, of Far Rockaway, was taken to St. John's Episcopal Hospital South Shore, in Far Rockaway, after he complained of pain in his leg. The driver of the Buick, identified as Audrey Entwistle, 76, of Inwood, was taken to Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre, where she was evaluated. A passenger in the front seat of her car, Karen Santiago, 47, was treated for a dislocated right shoulder at Mercy, police said. Another passenger in the Buick, Stella Zarobinski, 10, was also taken to Mercy for evaluation.
The driver of the tanker refused medical aid, police said.
Several area streets were closed off, and 100 area homes were evacuated, along with three businesses, authorities said. Those within 3,000 feet of the tanker were evacuated for precautionary reasons because of the hazardous conditions, Smith said. He added that the tanker had just been filled at Mobile Transport in Inwood prior to the accident. Following the accident, a private firm was called to pump the fuel to a separate tanker. No gas actually spilled onto the roadway itself, said officer Vincent Garcia, a police spokesman.
No charges were filed, and no summonses were issued, police said.
The Emergency Services and Hazardous Materials units, the Nassau County Fire Marshal and the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department, as well as other area fire departments, responded to safeguard the scene. The other responding departments included Inwood, Woodmere, Hewlett and Meadowmere Park, with Long Beach, Lynbrook and Rockville Centre providing backup. "Everyone worked very, very well together," said Koehler.
Homes were evacuated from about 7:30 p.m. on Saturday until about 4 a.m. the next day. The occupants of two or three homes directly across from the accident, however, were not allowed back in until later in the day, said Garcia. "We wanted to make sure the tanker was uprighted and offloaded before we let anyone back into their homes," he explained.
"Absolutely, there was concern of an explosion," Garcia added. "We wanted to err on the side of caution."
Neighbors said that the Number Five School was opened and used as an emergency evacuation site. But many others chose to stay with friends and family, including Michelle Boruchow of Westminster Road. "At 9:30 p.m. we had to evacuate," she said. "They were afraid of leakage from the gas tanker, and there was a potential for danger. Needless to say, it was a sleepless night."
Boruchow said she stayed at a friend's house until she was allowed back in her own home early Sunday morning. "It was very, very scary," she said.
Ellen Blaustein, a resident of Arbuckle Avenue, said she was not home at the time of the accident, and when she returned, she couldn't reach her home because the area was closed off. "We were just concerned about what was going on," she said.
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