Driver escapes fiery tanker crash on Rte. 128

The truck crash on Route 128 sent flames and smoke into the air yesterday. Part of the highway was closed for three hours. (beth pullman)

A gasoline tanker truck crashed and burst into flames on Route 128 in Needham early yesterday morning, but the driver escaped with only minor injuries, State Police said.

Kevin Power, 59, of Watertown, was driving the tractor-trailer southbound at about 5:40 a.m. when he veered to the right to avoid hitting a large piece of metal debris in the road. Power lost control of the vehicle and it struck the guardrail on the right side. The trailer with the gasoline tank overturned, and the 11,500 gallons inside ignited, engulfing the vehicle in flames, State Police said in a statement.

Power was able to free himself from the cab after the accident. He was taken by ambulance to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston with minor injuries, State Police said. No one else was reported injured.

The southbound side of the highway was closed for about three hours between Route 9 and Great Plain Avenue, while State Police and police and firefighters from Needham, Newton, Wellesley, and Dedham extinguished the fire, investigated the crash, and removed the vehicle.

Ed Coletta, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said some of the gas flowed into the breakdown lane and seeped into soil along the side of the road. Crews from an environmental cleanup firm mopped up the gas on the road and excavated the contaminated soil.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the spill had affected local water supplies, he said.

"It was an incredible explosion, very frightening," said Beth Pullman, a 50-year-old teacher who lives near the highway in Needham.

Mass. Highway planned to shut down two lanes of the road last night to repair the damaged road surface. After fixing those two lanes, officials planned to fix the other two lanes.

It's not the first time a gasoline tanker has crashed in the past year. In March, the driver of a tanker was killed in Chicopee after he swerved trying to avoid a car accident and the tanker detached from its tractor, exploding into flames. In December in Everett, a tanker sped through a traffic circle and crashed, spilling burning gasoline into a neighborhood and causing serious property damage.