Only on 10: Quick response prevents disaster as gasoline tanker detaches in Providence
A potential disaster averted after a gasoline tank detached in Providence Wednesday night.
"I could feel in the floor a 'boom' like an earthquake or something like that," said Providence resident Lenin Herrera.
Inside was 9,100 gallons of gasoline.
Herrera said the noise woke him up out of his sleep.
"It made me come out right away. I just put a shirt on and run over here."
Surveillance video exclusively obtained by NBC10 caught the incident.
Video showed the trailer turning on to Elmwood around 11:25 p.m.
Seconds later the tractor detached, and the cab continued moving before coming to a stop.
"I saw the big trailer the cab of the trailer in front of this house. And then the tanker was still sliding on the street and stopped and our house," said Herrera.
Officials said no gas was spilled initially, but 10 to 20 gallons leaked out on the road while crews were transferring the gas to another trailer.
No one was hurt and no one was evacuated.
"It was contained very quickly," said Providence Deputy Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Jutras. "The actions of the driver were extremely fast acting and stopped it from becoming a serious incident."
The rest of the gas was offloaded without a problem, with Herrera standing by.
"I was just scared. I was just getting by. I got a lot of friends here and I was like, am I gonna save myself and just run away. No, I gotta stay here and try to tell everybody like what's going on," said Herrera.
He feared the worst for himself and his community.
"I hear that one explosion like that can take care of blocks and kill a lot of people. So that's why I was afraid last night," said Herrera.
He's happy it was just a spill.
"We're so lucky. We're so lucky that nothing happened. Nothing worse happened," said Herrera. "It would've been a disaster; it would have been something you don't ever want to see."