Published: May 07, 2008 03:59 pm            

Truck ignites during lunch break

Some highway workers got quite a surprise during their lunch break Thursday, May 1.

Their road-lining truck burst into flames while they ate inside at the Crystal Flash gas station on Indiana 334 just east of I-65 at about noon. Zionsville Fire Department Lt. Todd Scales said the fire started underneath the truck, but they don’t know exactly what caused it.

The crew and the truck had been painting lines around the area, Scales said. The truck is owned by a private contractor.

Extinguishing the fire was more complicated than normal because the chemical used to paint the lines on roads reacts violently to water. In addition, the truck was equipped with open propane tanks, Scales said.

A Boone County Fire-Worth Division firefighter crept up to the truck to turn off the propane line while other firefighters sprayed the truck with water to protect him, Scales said.

The firefighters also had to worry about the tanks of lining paint and the propane heating up and combusting, Scales said. If the paint tanks would have reached 475 degrees, the paint would have ignited. The tanks only reached about 300 degrees because the firefighters kept spraying water on them to keep them cool.

The fire was under control about 10 minutes after firefighters arrived.

Zionsville Fire Department, Boone County Fire Department-Worth Division, Boone County Fire Department-Perry Division and the Whitestown Police Department all responded to the call.

        

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