East Boston

Fire breaks out after car crashes into tanker truck in East Boston

The morning commute was brought to a standstill Wednesday because of the crash; Boston police put out an update at 1 p.m. that the roads were finally reopened

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A car and a truck were involved in a collision on Route 1A in East Boston — creating a challenging scene for first responders, injuring a woman and leading to an hours-long cleanup effort.

Firefighters said they were first called to the crash at around 3 a.m. — it's still unclear how or why, but a woman reportedly drove her car through the intersection where Route 1A and Boardman Street meet, and T-boned a tanker that was carrying 8,000 gallons of gas.

The crash led to a significant fire involving both vehicles, but only the woman was transported to the hospital. Her exact condition was unknown at last check, but she was reportedly intubated and fire officials said she was in "pretty bad condition."

The tanker driver, a man, was okay.

No firefighters were hurt.

Boston fire officials said that no gas from inside the tank spilled, but gas did leak from a pipe underneath the tanker, setting both vehicles on fire while both drivers were inside.

Firefighters said in all, it took them about an hour to get the scene under control.

Clean up was going on for hours throughout Wednesday morning.

At last check, it wasn't yet clear what led up to the crash — including whether or not either of the drivers ran a red light.

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