Propane truck recovered after Jackson Twp. crash

The entire ordeal lasted more than 24 hours.

Ted Czech


Crews work Thursday morning to clear the scene of a propane truck crash in a wooded area in Jackson Township. The truck burned for hours after the crash on Wednesday.

Wearing clothes he bought off the rack at a department store, Jim Wilson drove to his Jackson Township home on Thursday to watch crews remove a propane truck that had crashed on his property the day before.

Wilson, 48, along with his wife and two young boys, spent the night at a hotel after they were evacuated by firefighters from their home on South Lake Road.

Just before 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Mason's Propane Service truck, carrying about 2,400 gallons of propane, careened off the road, split a tree, tumbled down an embankment and burst into flames.

Wilson said that he's had several vehicles land in his wooded area after leaving the road, "But I've never had a flaming propane truck."

Three responders, including Thomasville fire police member Terry McCandless Sr., rushed to the scene and pulled the driver from the truck.

Speaking Wednesday, Ray Kinsey, chief of the York County Haz-Mat Team, said firefighters planned to monitor the fire into the night until all of the gas was dispersed.

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"I'm just glad nobody's (seriously) hurt, and it's nice to be back at my house," Wilson said.

Following the Wilsons' evacuation, firefighters siphoned water from the family's pond to douse the wooded area around the flaming truck.

One of the fire trucks became stuck in the mud near the pond and had to be pulled out Thursday morning by Charlie's Repair Service in York.

The crew from Charlie's then set about removing the propane truck, a much more arduous task. First, they had to chop down trees that stood in its path.

A crew from Charlie's Repair in York prepares to remove a propane truck on Thursday that crashed in Jackson Township the day before.

Then, attaching cables, they used their heavy-duty tow truck to winch the truck out of the woods and onto South Lake Road.

The truck was then loaded onto the back of a flatbed trailer, pulled by a dump truck, and finally was driven away just before noon.

The driver, whose name was not released, suffered a cut on his head, but was conscious, McCandless said Wednesday.

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Mason's Propane Service, located in East Berlin, issued a news release on Thursday, which stated, "Our major concern was the public's safety. We're glad no one was hurt worse than it was.

"We'd like some prayers for our driver's complete recovery. We want to thank first responders, they were all awesome and took appropriate action to ensure the public was safe."

Contact reporter Ted Czech at 717-771-2033.