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B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

It's been nearly two weeks since the fiery crash on Route 302 near George's

Pizza & Restaurant that killed a truck driver, but the event still lingers in

the minds of many, especially Marjorie Eneri of Waterbury.

Mrs Eneri said she was approaching the restaurant from Bethel at 8:08 pm that

Monday evening with her son to meet her daughter, Nancy Hollister, in the

parking lot when she witnessed the tanker truck veer off the road, slam into a

utility pole and burst into flames. The truck apparently landed at the exact

spot where the two were to have met.

According to Mrs Eneri, the flames were shooting out of the utility pole, and

when they ignited the gas spilling from the truck, all the flames rushed

toward the front of the truck.

Having arrived three minutes late and knowing that her daughter was always

punctual, she feared her daughter had been consumed by the blaze.

"I went berserk. I thought it had gotten my daughter," she recalled. "That was

the worst part, thinking that my daughter could have been in all that fire."

Mrs Eneri said she clearly remembers the sequence of events that followed in

those first frantic moments.

"I got out of my car and ran toward the truck. That's when the people came

running out of George's saying `run,' so we ran the other way," she said.

For 15 minutes, Mrs Eneri agonized over the possibility that Nancy had been

lost in the carnage. She remembers pleading with a Newtown police officer who

tried to search through the flames, but was unable to see anything. She even

called her daughter's house but was told she had already left to meet her.

Eventually, Nancy did show up, also a little late, and all was well, though

Mrs Eneri says she was still walking around in shock earlier this week.

Mrs Eneri said the truck did not appear to be traveling overly fast as it

slammed into the utility pole, but she admits that the entire incident seems

to move in slow motion whenever she replays it in her head.

"I've never seen anything like it," she said.

Chet Hopper of Boggs Hill Road was dining with his wife, Paula, in the

restaurant's atrium when his attention suddenly turned from his shrimp and

spinach with angel hair to the crashing tanker truck outside.

"I noticed the headlights first then I saw the pole come down," he recalled.

"I didn't see any flames right away, but by the time I stood up and ran to the

door there was a huge wall of flames.

"If the truck hadn't dumped over it probably would have come right into the

restaurant," said Mr Hopper, who lost his car in the flames. "I don't believe

the guy could have been doing anything but speeding."

Lt. David Lydem said the Newtown Police Department's investigation of the

accident remains open as it awaits the results of a state police

reconstruction of the scene.

Lt Lydem said the short strip of Hattertown Road (beneath the green) will

remain closed during the day while diggers continue work at the site, but will

open at the end of each day.

George Hoti, owner of George's Restaurant, said he expects to reopen for

business some time later this month. Because workers from the state's

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are still on the site removing

the contaminated soil, no work has yet been done on the restaurant, which

sustained minor damage from the fire. Once the digging is complete, Mr Hoti

said work on the building will take about five days.

Mr Hoti, who opened George's 11 years ago, said it has been tough waking up

each day knowing he won't be able to serve his customers. However, the 300-400

calls he's received from well wishers have helped to cheer up he and his

staff.

Newtown Health District Director Mark Cooper confirmed this week that

contaminants have been found in the cemetery, directly behind George's. He

said the town and the DEP would continue to monitor wells in the area over the

next year to see if any MTBE, a gasoline contaminant, had seeped in. He said

MTBE is easily detectable in water.

If contaminants are found to have seeped into wells, Mr Cooper said a

treatment system can be put on the wells to filter out any pollutants.

The DEP was forced to cut down several trees behind the restaurant in order to

better remove the contaminated soil.