Tractor-Trailer Hits L.I.E. Guardrail, Causing Diesel Fuel Spill

DIX HILLS, NY — A tractor-trailer struck a Long Island Expressway guardrail and jackknifedMonday morning, rupturing a saddle tank on the truck which resulted in diesel fuel flowing onto the roadway, Steve Silverman, public information officer, said.

A second vehicle was involved in the crash, Suffolk police said. After jackknifing, the trailer blocked all westbound lanes of the Long Island Expressway, closing the road between exits 50 and 51 near the Half Hollow Road overpass in Dix Hills for several hours, police said.

The Dix Hills Fire Department responded at 6:50 a.m. Firefighters applied roughly 20 bags of Speedy Dry, an absorbent material, onto the fuel spill, containing it. The tractor-trailer driver was brought to Good Samaritan Hospital by Dix Hills Rescue Squad ambulance with non-life threatening injuries. Under the direction of Third Assistant Chief Scott DiPino, crews were dispatched with three heavy rescue trucks, an ambulance, fire police and paramedic responder.

As of 9:20 a.m., the right lane remains closed, but the rest of the road is open, according to police.