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Just
before nine o’clock in the evening of August 26, 1940, a tanker
truck hauling gasoline tipped over in East Montpelier.
It
was loaded with nearly 1600 gallons of gasoline, which began pouring
out from the top of the truck and was ignited by a hot exhaust pipe.
The driver and a passenger escaped from the cab through a hole in
the roof as the truck burst into flames.
Tipped
on its side at the junction of Routes 2 and 14, the truck leaked
gas into a culvert, under the street and directly into the river.
Motorists stopped to take pictures of the river literally on fire
as the flammable gas floated on top.
The
truck valued at $7,500, was a total loss.
At
right, historic image courtesy Vermont
Historical Society
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A
smoking shell is all that's left of the gasoline tanker that
flipped and burst into flame in East Montpelier.
Note that the tires are burned right down to the rims.
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