Propane truck rollover closed 100 businesses on Tuesday

A truck belonging to Northern Gas Transport Company, Lyndonville, Vermont, overturned Tuesday at the intersection of Route 3-11 at the Exit 20 entrance to I-93, closing the roads and nearby businesses for nearly nine hours for fear of setting off an explosion. Here, a Tilt’n Diner server brings coffee out to first responders. (Courtesy photo)

By ROGER AMSDEN, LACONIA DAILY SUN

TILTON — It was business as usual Wednesday in the Route 3-11 area here, which was closed to traffic for nearly nine hours after a fully loaded propane truck overturned shortly before 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Nearly 100 businesses were closed for more than two and a half hours Tuesday evening while crews worked to right the overturned truck. The highway was reopened to traffic at 8:28 p.m. The cause of the rollover had not been determined as of press time.

“We had to create a very large perimeter for safety which required closing approximately 75 to 100 stores off Exit 20, including Tanger Outlets and the evacuation of several hundred people,” said Tilton Police Chief Robert Cormier.

The closure affected the busiest road in the region, which sees 14,000 vehicles per day at this time of year.

Businesses in the area estimated that they lost at least half of their normal daily business.

“It was definitely down for us. Traffic was down substantially, at least 50 percent less than normal,” said Sean Willingham, manager of Brooks Brothers in the Tanger Outlets mall. He said that stores in the mall closed at about 5:45 p.m., more than three hours earlier than normal.

Sarah Hutchins at Old Navy said “not nearly as many people were in the store as on a normal day. It was only half of the number of shoppers we usually have. Hopefully we’ll get some of that business back on Black Friday.”

For Betty Pauley, who works at Kitchen Outlets in the mall, it was a longer day than usual, even though she wasn’t working. She had driven from her home in Meredith earlier in the day to attend the Festival of Trees in Concord and decided to take Route 132 back to Tilton where she wanted to do some shopping at the mall. She ended up stuck in backed up traffic and had to eventually get on to I-93 and drive north to get home. “It took me two-and-a-half hours to get home from Concord.” she said.

It was also back to normal for the Tilt’n Diner, which was the closest to the spot at the intersection of Route 140 and Route 3-11 where the tanker, which was carrying 30,000 gallons of liquid propane, overturned.

Mark Grotheer, operations manager for the Common Man, was at the diner, which was evacuated and closed due to its proximity to the incident. He said that early in the afternoon the diner was given the all-clear for staff to enter the building and prep for dinner.

“But as the scene took longer than expected to clear, we were not able to open to the public for the remainder of the day. We took advantage of staff being able to be in the restaurant and kept coffee and food going for the rescue crew.”

He expressed thanks to Deputy Chief Tim Joubert of the Tilton-Northfield Fire Department for assuring the safety of guests and staff and to Chief Cormier of the Tilton Police Department for providing him with a safe haven in his patrol car for the second evacuation on the evening.

“Yes, we lost revenue as we were not able to open for business, but we were also given the opportunity to serve our community by feeding the first responders and giving them a hot coffee with a warm smile. Those were the positives to take away from the incident,” said Grotheer.

Deputy Chief Joubert said that after the truck overturned it was determined that there was no propane leak but the truck’s diesel tanks were damaged and were leaking.

He said that the truck belonged to Northern Gas Transport Company, Lyndonville, Vermont, and that removal of the prapone was a time consuming process.

“An extensive evacuation of the area and a complete shutdown of all traffic and electrical power was required in order to minimize ignition sources and ensure an adequate safety zone,” said Joubert.

“Eventually all the liquid propane was off-loaded onto a new tanker and the vehicle was up-righted by a special heavy trucking recovery company that specialized in tanker accidents,” said Chief Cormier.

All traffic and power were restored to the area by 8:20 p.m.

The Tilt’n Diner had to close for most of Tuesday due to the rescue effort on its property, as did 100 other businesses along Route 3-11. (Courtesy photo)

A rescue worker enjoys a cup of coffee provided by the Tilt’n Diner  during the cleanup effort. (Courtesy photo)