Oil slick causes 4 crashes
MIDDLESEX TWP — An apparent blown engine caused a box truck to leak oil onto Route 228 West on Thursday morning, closing part of the busy road for about two hours.
A driver from Nicklas Supply, a plumbing supply company with a location in Cranberry Township, said he began losing oil pressure as he headed north on Route 8 just south of the intersection at Route 228.
The driver, who did not want to be identified, said he turned onto Route 228 west when he realized the oil pressure was dropping.
Just as he turned onto Route 228, he lost all oil pressure and figured the motor in the large box truck had blown up.
He pulled onto a gravel area at the southeast corner of Route 228 and Park Road, where he saw oil coming from underneath the truck.
Meanwhile, said township officer Conrad Pfeifer, vehicles on Route 228 began to slip and slide on the road surface, which Pfeifer could slide along as if the road were coated in ice.
One Cadillac careened over a hillside on the north side of Route 228, and three other cars crashed into one another on the icelike road surface.
Tow vehicles carefully removed the vehicles from the crash, which did not produce any injuries.
The Middlesex Volunteer Fire Company blocked about a half-mile of Route 228 from Route 8 to Park Road. Eastbound traffic on Route 228 was waved south onto Park Road, which leads to Old Route 8 South. That road leads to Route 8 near the Valencia Post Office.
The easternmost section of Route 228 was closed for about two hours as the state Department of Transportation spread 10 tons of sand on the oil, which produced a faint rainbow effect on the black asphalt before the application of the sand.
Erann Heltzell of PennDOT, who was called to the scene while working elsewhere in the field, said the oil mixed with the weather conditions on Thursday morning produced the slick surface.“The rain didn't help,” Heltzell said.After the sand was applied by PennDOT workers, Route 228 was reopened just after the noon hour.Pfeifer said the only citation in the situation was given to the driver of a vehicle who went around the Middlesex fire truck at the end of Route 228 to access the closed road.That driver was cited for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.
