A van crashed into a gasoline tanker truck early Monday morning in Boston, causing gallons of gas to spill out onto the street, fire officials said.
The van hit the truck around 3:30 a.m. Monday on the 1100 block of Hyde Park Avenue, according to a tweet from the Boston Fire Department. The crash caused 50-60 gallons of gas to leak onto the street, the department noted.
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The driver and passenger of the van were taken to the hospital by Boston EMS, according to BFD. First responders have been putting down absorbents and covering sewer drains following the spill. The city's water department has also responded to check drains in the area.
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The tanker was carrying more than 11,000 gallons of fuel when it was hit, but fire officials say thanks to the driver’s quick thinking, a much bigger fuel spill was avoided.
"He was actually going to off load the gasoline into the gas station when the accident happened, so once he got hit he immediately went into action and off loaded, which it could have been a lot worse if he didn’t, it could have been spilled down Hyde Park Ave and had a lot more of a spill," Boston Fire Department spokesperson Brian Alkins said. "He was actually very great for us, because we could have had a worse disaster here."
Fire officials said around 5:30 a.m. that clean up will take some time, and asked that drivers try to avoid the area during their morning commute Monday.
