Residents return home 16 hours after propane truck crash

11/23/2006

Michael Gannon , Register Staff

GUILFORD — Residents in the Soundview Road area began returning to their homes shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday, 16 hours after a truck hauling liquid propane crashed and forced an evacuation of everyone within a one-mile radius. First Selectman Carl Balestracci said he and residents are going into the Thanksgiving weekend with reason to be truly thankful for the outcome, in which a tank loaded with 9,000 gallons of propane was eventually righted and removed without harm to residents or property.

"Our fire department and police department personnel performed their duties as true professionals that they all are, many of them volunteers," said Balestracci. "The physical risks these individuals faced never deterred them from their efforts to protect our citizens and their properties."

The accident took place at 3:25 p.m. Tuesday when the truck, operated by Richard S. Loffredo, 37, of Cranston, R.I., failed to negotiate an S-curve in the road. The truck rolled over on its side, taking down a utility pole which left wires hanging precariously close to the tanker.

Police Chief Thomas Terribile said Loffredo sustained a broken leg, and that no summons has yet been issued. The truck is owned by a company named Papco of Bridgeton, N.J. The truck was headed for a propane dealership near the end of the road.

More than three dozen people had to relocate to the Guilford Community Center on Church Street, and the Red Cross set up about a dozen residents with overnight accommodations.

Marty Conopko operates Creative Small Business Solutions, an accounting firm at 29 Soundview Road. All operations were staged from his parking lot.

"My bookkeeper called me yesterday at about 4:45 p.m. and told me the fire department told them the had to get out," he said. "We cater to small businesses, so we’ve probably lost a day’s work."

He also was struggling to salvage a printer be believes may have been fried when the electricity in the area was restored.

Mitchell Gross of Connecticut Light & Power said all service was restored to the area by 10 p.m.

"We were just waiting for the signal from town officials," Gross said.

"We were very lucky," Balestracci said. "It was a very dangerous situation, the most serious I can remember in Guilford. We were very fortunate because our fire and police departments have very well-trained personnel."

He said Guilford’s fire department had one of the first fully trained hazardous material units in the state.

"We had a potential catastrophe, and everything went into high gear," he said.

The operation coordinated the efforts of the state police, CL&P, AT&T, Amtrak, the state fire marshal’s office and even tow truck companies.

Balestracci said the town will thoroughly examine the possibility of going after Papco’s insurance carrier to recoup the still unknown costs to the town. He said that will include overtime for police, fire and Parks and Recreation, the latter of which fed and sheltered those at the community center, as well as gasoline, diesel fuel and numerous smaller expenditures.

"I’ve probably got 50 or 60 hours of overtime, at an average of about $45 per hour," Terribile said. "But my bill’s going to be relatively small. You have the fire department out there all night. (The utilities) out there all night. Amtrak. And the bill for the (tow trucks) out there all night, will probably be bigger that you’d imagine. Somebody is going to get a big bill for this."

Michael Gannon can be reached at mgannon@nhregister.com or 458-5757.