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Paint truck explosion leaves roadway bathed in vivid color
selan@lohud.com
THE JOURNAL NEWS
HARRISON — Under less serious circumstances, a major expressway bathed in teal-green paint the day before Easter would inspire any number of bunny jokes.
But few motorists were laughing yesterday after a tractor-trailer carrying paint powder, liquid paint and thinner crashed into a wrecked car, ignited into flames and shut down a stretch of Interstate 287 in Harrison for more than 10 hours.
State police said it was amazing that no one was hurt in the accident. The car's 25-year-old driver and 19-year-old passenger had exited the damaged vehicle moments before the 18-wheeler slammed into it in the early-morning fog and drizzle.
"They're very lucky," said Trooper Robert Morgan of the New Rochelle barracks. "Someone was watching out for them."
The crash happened around 4:30 a.m., when a red 1995 Honda Civic driven by a Florida man lost control, hit the highway median and stopped in the center lane between exits 9 and 10.
Jose R. Junior of Pompano Beach, Fla., and his passenger, Rafael P. Sucena of New Rochelle, were waiting for help on the side of the road when the paint-filled truck heading toward Connecticut struck the Civic — right in front of them.
"They did the right thing — they got out of the car," Morgan said. "Thank God they had their wits about them."
The truck fishtailed and slid a quarter-mile down the highway, scraping against the cement barrier and setting its tires and axle on fire, said Joseph Brefere, chief of the Purchase Fire Department.
The 5,600 pounds of material inside the truck spewed bright green and purple color across all lanes of the highway and onto the banks of Westchester Avenue. The tractor-trailer was engulfed in flames when Purchase firefighters arrived on the scene just west of Kenilworth Road. White Plains and West Harrison firefighters were called in to help.
About 45 firefighters battled the petroleum-stoked flames with foam and 7,000 gallons of water, but the fire kept rekindling. A small fire in the smoky remains of the trailer could still be seen more than three hours after the accident.
The truck driver, George N. Trabakoules of West Chester, Pa., escaped unharmed. The tractor-trailer was owned by A. Duie Pyle Inc., a Pennsylvania-based trucking company.
The fiery crash caused morning traffic to back up to the Tappan Zee Bridge and to the Connecticut border, Brefere said. The first lanes didn't open until 2 p.m. The truck, dyed green by the spill, was ripped apart with a backhoe.
By early afternoon, the smell of paint and turpentine still filled the air, and dozens of police cars and state highway and environmental vehicles remained at the closed portion of eastbound I-287 as workers in white protective suits investigated the wreckage.
The paint spill posed no health hazard because public access was limited and it happened outside a residential area, said Mary Landrigan, a spokeswoman for the Westchester County Health Department.
County environmental health inspectors at the scene determined that the spill contaminated about 500 feet of a stream near Exit 9, Landrigan said. Soil from that stretch of streambed will be removed tomorrow, she said.
"The cleanup will take a few days, but things are well under control," she said.
Westchester County's hazardous materials team was called in to prevent the toxic substances from entering storm drains and eventually Long Island Sound, Brefere said. Crews pumped out sewers and used absorbent materials to limit the damage.
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