Overturned fuel truck causes spill, shuts down road near JFK Airport

An overturned fuel tanker prompted a large emergency response Wednesday near John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens.

More than 70 firefighters and EMS personnel were called just after 11 a.m. to Meyer Avenue and Rockaway Boulevard.

The large truck could be seen on its side, surrounded by white foam after firefighters sprayed the area down.

"Thankfully, that blanket of foam that you see – every 25 minutes, a new blanket of foam's being put down – is keeping the vapor and everything else contained, so we don't have any fire and we don't have any further problems," Nassau County Chief Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro said.

We're told the driver was able to get out of the truck safely and was not hurt.

"He was coming out from getting gasoline, then he went to take the turn, and then I don't know if he took the pothole that is there. It just went sideways and just flipped. That's it," one witness said. "I started yelling. I started panicking."

Surveillance video shows the truck tipping over while making a turn in the intersection. Some fuel can be seen spilling out of it as it lands on its side.

People who work in nearby offices and businesses were asked to shelter in place.

"The building shook, a thud, and then one of my colleagues got up and looked outside and saw an overturned tanker," said Sonnett Anderson, who works nearby.

"Where my seat is, it's just pillars underneath, so like, the whole thing shook more than normal," said Natalie Bomba, who also works nearby.

The tanker was loaded with about 8,500 gallons in it, and about 2,000 gallons spilled onto the street, into storm drains and into the waterways of Jamaica Bay, according to Uttaro.

Hazmat teams have been metering nearby buildings for flammable levels. The state Department of Environmental Conservation and U.S. Coast Guard are monitoring the run-off and contamination.

Uttaro said the remaining fuel on the truck has to be offloaded onto a different truck before it can be uprighted. 

Three people refused medical attention, Uttaro said. No injuries were reported. 

Nassau County police said all lanes on Rockaway Turnpike from Peninsula Boulevard to Brookville Boulevard were closed in both directions.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.