EVERETT - Dozens of people left homeless by the dramatic explosion and fire caused by a massive gas tanker spill accepted help from strangers yesterday, and new details emerged about the New Hampshire truck driver at the center of the disaster.
Chad M. LaFrance, 30, was driving a tractor-trailer loaded with 9,400 gallons of gasoline when his truck overturned at the Sweetser traffic circle Wednesday morning, setting off an inferno that consumed 21 cars and two apartment buildings - but without injuring or killing anyone.
As residents coped with the accident's aftermath, a relative of the truck driver confirmed yesterday that in 1997, LaFrance admitted to an FBI agent that he scrawled a bomb threat on the outside of a package handled by a UPS facility in Chelmsford where he once worked.
"It was a kid's prank," a woman who identified herself as LaFrance's aunt said in an interview on LaFrance Avenue in Nashua, where members of the family live in three houses on the street.
According to federal court records, LaFrance scrawled in red on the package, "Tick. Tick.Tick. The time is running out. UPS Sucks. Danger. Explosive illegal bombs enclosed. Watch handling."
LaFrance, who now lives in Dover, N.H., was sentenced to six months probation, according to US District Court records.
LaFrance was also ticketed three times for speeding in New Hampshire, in 2000 and 2002. Abenaqui Carriers and P.S. Marston Associates LLC, the company LaFrance was driving for, did not return a call seeking comment yesterday.
State Police, who have cited LaFrance for speeding for the Everett crash, were still investigating the accident yesterday. A spokesman said it may take several weeks to complete the probe.
The crash punctured the trailer and ignited leaking gasoline, which coursed down the Main Street ramp and then snaked around a corner, igniting cars as it went. Two apartment buildings were destroyed, another was heavily damaged, and residents of a senior citizen complex were evacuated, officials and residents have said.
Yesterday as contractors tore down and started hauling away the remnants of two apartment buildings, Selene Miranda and friends searched through donated clothing now inundating the Edward G. Connolly Center, where the city's human services office is located.
Miranda lived at 80 Main St., a building that was destroyed in the fire. In an interview across from the pile of rubble that was once her home, Miranda said she was searching for a new beginning.
"I lost everything," she said as one friend held a soot-stained package of photos, the only item they could retrieve from the home. "There are lots of things to do now."
The city and the American Red Cross have paid for motel stays for those made homeless, but the aid is finite and Everett officials said they will try to help the displaced find housing. Carolyn E. Lightburn, director of human services for the city, asked that any contributions be in the form of gift cards - from any mall or store - so people can choose for themselves the household goods they most need.
Lightburn said gift cards can be dropped off at the Connolly Center on Chelsea Street, while cash donations will be accepted at the Eagle Bank on Broadway.
At the Everett Villa coop, the 78-unit senior complex, gratitude was the word of the day.
Residents said a long list of people deserve thanks: the unknown teenagers who ignored their own burning homes to help the elders; Everett police and firefighters, as well as public safety workers from neighboring communities; neighbors who opened their doors to the displaced, or handed over clothing; city workers at the shelter; and businesses that overwhelmed the victims with donations of clothing and food.
"They were marvelous," said Jo Caprio, president of the cooperative, which is slowly returning to normal.
Around the corner, Ziad Odeh, the owner of two affected buildings, greeted some tenants with a hug. A six-family house owned by Odeh was destroyed, but a second building, at 78 Main, remains standing and may become habitable soon.
Odeh said he wasn't sure if his current tenants will be back.
"Look at this," he said, pointing to the tall piles of debris. "Would you want to live here with all this trouble?'
LaFrance, who filed for personal bankruptcy in 2006, could not be reached for comment. But his aunt said he is a hardworking man, and she suggested the issue was not his driving, but the rotary itself.
"We're horrified over this, the damage - everybody is," the aunt said. "That road he drove on has major problems . . . and that needs to be taken care of . . . He's just a young man trying to make a living."
Shelley Murphy of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
