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The Schenectady County incident happened at around 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21, in Glenville on Maple Avenue.
Fire officials said the truck, carrying individual containers of compressed natural gas, was too tall to clear the 10-foot-high steel truss overpass and exploded on impact.
Photos and videos on social media show flames shooting up hundreds of feet into the air, as well as the truck’s cab gutted by fire.
When emergency crews first arrived on scene, a freight train was passing by, driving right through the flames, said Alplaus Fire Chief Glenn Kreig.
The driver, identified as 60-year-old Sylvester Basil, of Clute, Texas, told police he was making a delivery from Pennsylvania to a location an hour north of the crash site and did not see the signs warning of low clearance.
Basil was airlifted to the Westchester Burn Unit with severe burns to his hands and face, fire officials said. Nobody else was injured.
The crash knocked out power to more than 1,200 customers and prompted the evacuation of multiple homes in the immediate area. Power was fully restored hours later.
Multiple agencies responded to the scene, including the East-Glenville Fire Department, a Schenectady HazMat team, and county and state police and fire departments.
Crews are monitoring air quality in the area but have so far found no major issues, Kreig said.
Once the tractor-trailer was removed from the scene, structural engineers were expected to check the bridge and determine the extent of any damage.
Kreig noted that the rail line is only used by freight trains and did not impact passenger service.
Maple Avenue remains closed between Glenbridge Road and Alplaus Avenue.
This is a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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