SENNETT - A driver of a passenger car was airlifted Wednesday by helicopter to a Syracuse-area hospital after a collision with a tanker truck carrying 12,300 gallons of liquid propane.
Emergency officials were thankful the accident did not result in a fiery explosion.
“The (truck) driver did an outstanding job of keeping the truck upright,” Sennett Fire Chief Paul Weiman said.
The driver of propane truck was Douglas Harris, 42, of Lyons, while Paul Zechman, 92, of East Lake Road, Skaneateles, was driving a Jeep Cherokee, troopers said.
The tanker truck was heading southbound around 1 p.m. on Route 34 in Sennett. Zechman was in a Jeep Cherokee on the east shoulder of Route 34. He failed to yield the propane truck's right of way. Harris attempted to avoid Zechman by driving on the embankment, but he had to reenter the roadway to avoid overturning his truck. He then struck the Jeeps passenger side door.
The truck came to rest against a tree on the state road's east shoulder. Zechman's Jeep was pushed across 34.
A crew from the Weedsport Fire
Department set up a landing zone for the helicopter. The Throop Fire Department's ambulance and the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office also responded.
Route 34 traffic was diverted by state troopers and volunteer firefighters for several hours on Potter and Turnpike roads Wednesday. An Auburn resident sat fruitlessly on his bicycle waiting to be able to continue south on Route 34.
State police investigators with an accident reconstruction team began their work mid-afternoon.
The truck with its green cab was sitting diagonally across both lanes of traffic. Another cab was parked in readiness to haul the tanker.
The tanker is owned by Di Santo Jet Gas with corporate offices in Clyde. Di Santo is a parent propane company for Patterson LP Gas in Weedsport on Route 31 and VCS Propane on Route 34 in Genoa.
Company officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
“The (truck) driver did an outstanding job of keeping the truck upright,” Sennett Fire Chief Paul Weiman said.
The driver of propane truck was Douglas Harris, 42, of Lyons, while Paul Zechman, 92, of East Lake Road, Skaneateles, was driving a Jeep Cherokee, troopers said.
The tanker truck was heading southbound around 1 p.m. on Route 34 in Sennett. Zechman was in a Jeep Cherokee on the east shoulder of Route 34. He failed to yield the propane truck's right of way. Harris attempted to avoid Zechman by driving on the embankment, but he had to reenter the roadway to avoid overturning his truck. He then struck the Jeeps passenger side door.
The truck came to rest against a tree on the state road's east shoulder. Zechman's Jeep was pushed across 34.
A crew from the Weedsport Fire
Department set up a landing zone for the helicopter. The Throop Fire Department's ambulance and the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office also responded.
Route 34 traffic was diverted by state troopers and volunteer firefighters for several hours on Potter and Turnpike roads Wednesday. An Auburn resident sat fruitlessly on his bicycle waiting to be able to continue south on Route 34.
State police investigators with an accident reconstruction team began their work mid-afternoon.
The truck with its green cab was sitting diagonally across both lanes of traffic. Another cab was parked in readiness to haul the tanker.
The tanker is owned by Di Santo Jet Gas with corporate offices in Clyde. Di Santo is a parent propane company for Patterson LP Gas in Weedsport on Route 31 and VCS Propane on Route 34 in Genoa.
Company officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net