ROADS HAVE REOPENED
By Brian Lee TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
HUBBARDSTON — Eight to 10 families in a sparsely populated half-mile radius were forced to evacuate their homes for much of the day Monday after a propane tanker rolled over in a crash at Routes 68 and 62, police said.
Roads in the area were reopened about 6 p.m., more than six hours after the accident occurred.
Public safety personnel went door-to-door to evacuate residents after the 11:22 a.m. two-vehicle crash, which seriously injured both drivers. Routes 68 and 62 were closed for about a mile from the crash in each direction.
A shelter was opened for evacuees at the Slade Building, 7 Main St. No one was at the shelter Monday afternoon. Town Administrator Anita Scheipers said a few people had come earlier, just to get updated information about what was going on.
The town sent out updates on the CodeRED emergency phone system.
“You'd like to think that you're prepared for these types of events when they happen,” Ms. Scheipers said. “It sounds like public safety officials jumped in quickly. It was great to see” that the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency “responded so fast as well.”
The state Department of Conservation and Recreation closed Asnacomet Pond, also known as Comet Pond, until the accident scene was cleared.
Police Chief Dennis G. Perron said both drivers were taken by ambulances to UMass Memorial Medical Center — University Campus in Worcester.
The propane truck is owned by Eastern Propane & Oil.
The evacuation was called by 11:45 a.m., the chief said.
Emergency responders arrived to the sight and smell of a cloud of gas.
“It was misting propane,” with a strong smell of propane in the air, Chief Perron said.
No one became ill, he said.
“We evacuated probably a half-mile radius of houses in order to ensure the safety of everyone around us,” he said. “At the time of arrival it was very unstable. There was a fear that any type of emission could ignite it.”
As of about 3 p.m., the gas leak had been stopped, the chief said.
Another truck was en route to offload the propane, he said.
“Once that's completed they're going to get a tow truck with a rotator to lift it and put it back upright,” he said around 3 p.m. “You're talking three to five more hours before the scene is clear,” which was when the residents would be allowed back into their homes.
The chief said it was too soon to tell whether speed was a factor in the crash.
Chief Perron said the inability to get statements from the injured drivers at the accident scene made it difficult to determine what had happened.
There weren't a lot of skid marks to determine the vehicles' paths, he said.
State police accident reconstruction and truck teams were investigating.
A state hazardous materials team responded.
In addition, firefighters from Hubbardston, Barre and Rutland and police from Hubbardston, Princeton, Rutland and Barre assisted.
Jim and Donna Arsenault of Halfrey Road said they had received an emergency call from the town, but didn't see or smell anything amiss.
Because of that, they said, they lingered and debated staying and continuing working from home.
But seeing their neighbors flee made the Arsenaults decide to go to Town Hall to get more information.
They said they figured it would be a short evacuation and hadn't even brought their laptop computers with them.
“We tried to go back home and they wouldn't let us back,” Mr. Arsenault said of their unplanned day off, which included lunch at Hubbardston Pizza Palace.
With possibly another four hours before they could return home, they said they might flip a coin to decide whether they would drive to stay with Mr. Arsenault's parents in Worcester, or Mrs. Arsenault's folks in Fitchburg.
Contact Brian Lee at brian.lee@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BleeTG
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