Fuel leak, traffic jam follow car accident at gas station

SAUGUS – Saugus firefighters were forced to contact the Department of Environmental Protection when an accident at a Route 1 gas station caused a 20-gallon fuel leak, a traffic jam and unspecified injuries to a driver.The incident occurred Sunday around 4 p.m. when a vehicle driven by a 76-year-old woman drove off the roadway and struck a gas pump at the Sunoco station at 700 Broadway, according to Saugus Police Assistant Chief Ronald Giorgetti. The crash caused “extensive damage” to the front end of the vehicle and damaged the pump so that it leaked fuel onto the ground, said Giorgetti.He said the driver, whose name was not released, was taken to an area hospital. Her condition was unknown Sunday night.Saugus Fire Capt. Todd Nolan said the gas station?s fuel attendant shut the fuel lines off in enough time that the leak was limited to the 20 gallons, but mandates require any leak over 10 gallons to be reported to the state.Nolan said if the attendant hadn?t hit the switch “it would have been a lot more.”Nolan reported that the fuel was contained to the gas station?s property and kept out of sewer drains using dams. Crews also laid a foam blanket on top of the gasoline “to suppress vapors so that it doesn?t ignite,” said Nolan. “With that much gasoline, the main concern is fire.”Saugus fire was on scene of the incident for about two hours, and a detail was called in afterward to stand by during cleanup by the DEP-approved Sunoco crew, said Nolan. During the incident, Lynn, Malden and Melrose covered the Saugus station.Neither Nolan nor Giorgetti could be sure that the gas station had reopened because a structure beam holding up the station?s canopy had also been damaged in the accident.Nolan said traffic was only affected by the incident because of the “curiosity factor” of Route 1 drivers wondering what was going on at the station, which caused a traffic jam on Sunday afternoon.