No injuries after car hits tanker on Route 1

SAUGUS – Saugus Fire Chief James Blanchard said the town is fortunate there was no major damage or injuries after a car crashed into a gasoline tanker truck on Route 1 north early Thursday morning.A car struck the rear of a tanker at around 4 a.m. Thursday and destroyed the rear axle, Blanchard said.?Fortunately there was no leak of product and they were able to get the tanker off the road and into the Kowloon parking lot,” said Blanchard. “How reminiscent of that incident we just had.”This past summer, a tanker truck rolled over and exploded on Route 1 near Essex Street, killing its driver and igniting homes along Vine Street. More than 20 fire departments responded to the accident, which closed both sides of Route 1 for an entire weekend.?We were fortunate in a lot of ways,” said Blanchard. “There are so many businesses and restaurants right on Route 1 and it?s so easy for a tanker to lose control and go right into one. Here?s one that ended up in the Kowloon parking lot.”The police report states there was oil spilled in the passing lane on Route 1, but Blanchard said that was from the damage to the axle.?There wasn?t any product coming out of the tank,” said Blanchard. “There?s a significant amount of oil in the axle.”Blanchard said another tanker truck was called to the seen to unload the gas from the disabled truck, which was eventually removed from the parking lot. Route 1 was fully open in time for the morning commute.?It just points out that it is a dangerous roadway and we have significant traffic of all kinds of hazardous material-carrying vehicles,” said Blanchard. “They run all day long coming out of the terminals there in Revere.”In July, Town Manager Andrew Bisignani said he wanted to see a review of transportation policies on Route 1, but Thursday he acknowledged there?s little the town can do.?There?s not much we can do about that,” said Bisignani. “It?s a state highway. We can?t restrict traffic there. This is something that could have been a terrible catastrophe. It could have been a lot worse.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter @MattTempesta.