The driver of a passenger vehicle escaped serious injury Monday morning after the vehicle she was driving rear-ended a tanker truck with a load of gasoline.

The accident occurred just north of the intersection of South Main Street (Route 25) and Pecks Lane, around 6:20 am. The vehicle, a dark colored Toyota sedan, hit the rear of the tanker hard enough to dislodge some of the tanker's couplings. Pieces dropped off the truck for approximately 100 yards. The impact created a break in the tank, and gasoline began spilling, initially reported at approximately a gallon a minute.

Botsford Fire Rescue and Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps were dispatched to the scene. Upon arrival, Botsford Chief Wayne Ciaccia also requested that Hook & Ladder be dispatched for additional manpower due to the leaking gasoline.

A sand truck from Public Works was also sent to the scene, to help soak up some of the gasoline. Approximately a dozen firefighters responded.

DEEP was also requested.

Originally reported as being at South Main and Ethan Allen Road, the accident scene in fact was spread from 178 South Main, in front of A Sign Depot, to the Orchard Hill intersection. 

Southbound traffic was initially diverted over Wills Road, but that detour was later moved to the northern intersection of South Main and Pecks Lane, so that north and southbound traffic was using the same roadway. 

The driver of the Toyota, a female, was checked for injuries at the scene but was not taken to the hospital. Her vehicle suffered heavy front end damage, however.

Chief Ciaccia said the accident and resulting scene could have been much worse.

"She didn't want the ambulance here," he said of the driver of the Toyota. "The driver of the tanker is fine, and the leak was contained fairly quickly."

Speedi-Dri was on the ground around the back of the truck, but two bags jammed between the damaged tank and the truck's frame effectively stopped the leak Monday morning.

A second tanker truck was en route by 7:30, so that the gas could be unloaded from the damaged truck into the second vehicle. 

Chief Ciaccia expected firefighters would be on the scene "for quite some time," as the gas was moved from the damaged tank into the replacement one, and then for roadway cleanup.

South Main Street was still closed at 8 am Monday. Details will be posted as available.