Tandem Gasoline Tanker Fatal Fire
Detriat Free Press photos by Hugh Grannum
One person was killed and three others were injured when a rear trailer of a tandem gasoline tanker overturned at a busy Detroit area intersection and touched off a spectacular fire.
It was the 13th serious accident involving double-bottom tankers in the Detroit area in 1977. The accidents have killed five persons and injured 16. In this latest incident last December 27, the gasoline tanker plowed through the southwest corner of Coolidge Road and Ten Mile Road, shearing off a utility pole that brought overhead wires down in mass. The tanker, which had been heading east on Ten Mile, then jackknifed on Coolidge, and the rear trailer overturned, spewing flaming gasoline into the street.
A car southbound on Coolidge swerved to avoid the truck and overturned. The two occupants of the car escaped with cuts and bruises and were released from the hospital the next morning, as was the truck driver. Four other cars in the intersection were set afire.
The fatality was a pedestrian crossing the street when the tanker plowed through. He was burned beyond recognition.
The fire was so intense that flames melted a large metal sign in the adjacent shopping center. The flames, estimated at 200 feet high, were easily seen by diners at the downtown Renaissance Summit restaurant 10 miles away.
The double-bottom tanker is a tractor pulling a semi-trailer and trailer. The second trailer, called a pup, has been the cause of most tanker accidents, apparently because of its instability, caused by the moving center of gravity when loaded with liquid. The driver has virtually no control over the pup other than to pull it along. Add flammability to this hazard and the problem is compounded by as much as 25,000 gallons of gasoline.
As a result of this accident, Michigan State Police banned, as a highway safety measure, the operation of double-bottoms in the Detroit Metropolitan Area during daylight hours. The state police previously had tried inspecting tankers, reducing speed limits and taking other safety measures.
In every case, it was the pup that started twisting or turning before it flipped over. In two of the 13 accidents, the driver was killed. The other fatalities were a pedestrian and the drivers of cars. No two deaths were the result of the same accident. With the amount of flammable liquid involved, the fire fighters in each incident were credited with quick decisive action that saved lives and property.
