Fire engulfs truck on Millerton's Main Street

MILLERTON — At around 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 2, the call for a car fire came over the police scanner, alerting emergency personnel they were needed on Main Street, across from the site of the yet-to-be completed Salisbury Bank and Trust building, just west of the intersection of Main Street and Maple Avenue. Millerton’s Assistant Fire Chief Jim Milton said the call was not for a car fire.

“The way it ended up, it was for a 10-wheel box truck, a commercial vehicle. Those flames were 20 to 30 feet in the air,� he said, adding that three volunteer firefighters were at the post office on Century Boulevard when the fire started. “They got down there right away. They were there before the tones were out.�

In addition to the blaze that completely obliterated the Garelick Farm truck’s cab, there was also a fuel leak. About 20 gallons of diesel fuel leaked out of the truck onto the street as a result of the incident; the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) arrived on the scene to supervise its cleanup.

According to Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Ryan Griffin, the truck had an accident while still outside the town’s borders.

“We’re unsure if it was because the tire went flat or in the accident a fuel line ruptured and then it eventually caught fire,� he said. “But that’s where it came to be [on Main Street in Millerton].�

The truck was in Millerton because it was headed to its next delivery location, at the Cumberland Farms on Route 44, just a stone’s throw from where it erupted into flames.

When the vehicle caught fire, it burned the utility wires above it. The electric, phone and cable wires were seen shooting sparks before they fell to the ground. According to Milton, the utility companies had those wires up and running just an hour after the fire was brought under control.

Three firetrucks from Millerton were on the scene, as well as two hazardous material firetrucks from Sharon. Milton estimated that roughly 25 volunteers worked to extinguish the blaze. They cordoned off a section of Main Street for more than six hours while tending to the burnt truck and oil-covered roadway, as well as the downed wires. The assistant fire chief said everything was choreographed exactly right thanks to the work of all involved.

“Everybody just did an excellent job,� he said. “We couldn’t have gotten there any faster. We had the fire under control in five minutes tops once we got there and within a half an hour it was completely out.�

Milton said the truck fire was likely the biggest fire of the year that the Millerton department has seen. According to the sheriff’s office, the driver was not injured as a result of the fire. At this time the authorities are treating the incident as a single-vehicle accident and no charges are being filed against the driver.