Federal investigators have released a study detailing how gasoline leaked from an unprotected hatch on top of the overturned gasoline delivery tanker, one year after a fatal incident in Philadelphia wrecked a bridge along I-95.
The Associated Press reports that investigators watched video evidence demonstrating that when driver Nathaniel Moody, 53, pulled into a Wilmington, Delaware, station to fill up the tank, the cover of a 16-inch manhole was open, and it was not properly secured when he drove away to deliver it to a convenience store 42 miles away.
The “combined opinion” of its investigators is “that the fire most likely originated when gasoline escaped” from the open manhole as the trailer overturned and nearly 2,500 gallons of mixed gasoline and ethanol began to spill out from a section of the tank and ignite, according to a September “origin and cause” report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that was made public late on Wednesday.
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Isaac Moody, Moody’s cousin and a truck driver, told the AP, “It’s so easy for them to throw the blame on the trucker in almost every accident that happens.” “As soon as a trucker cannot defend themselves, they find all kinds of stuff.”
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The collision occurred on June 11, 2023. According to the authorities, a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline overturned while making a left-hand turn on an off-ramp while driving in the northbound lanes of the highway. Gasoline spilled from the car during the collision and caught fire.
In Northeast Philadelphia, a section of I-95 was blocked after it collapsed due to flames and smoke billowing near Cottman Avenue and State Road.
November saw the opening of a permanent bridge to vehicles, and last month saw the highway resume regular operations.
Moody was an owner-operator with a commercial driver’s license who resided in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. He was licensed since 2003. His mode of death was declared an accident, and his cause of death was listed as “blunt trauma of head and Inhalation and thermal injuries,” according to Fox 29 Philly. Isaac Moody, his cousin, was aware of him as a cautious driver who followed rules and training specifications.
