BREAKING NEWS: Two-truck collision causes fire at Route 1 gas station.
Two tractor-trailers collided Friday morning sending one into a gas station, setting the truck and station on fire.
The collision took place in the southbound lanes of Route 1, just past north of Deans Lane at 2:50 a.m.
Both drivers and two gas station attendants escaped the wreckage without injury, police said. Police were forced to close Route 1 south for two and half hours while firefighters fought the blaze.
The investigation found that both trucks were headed south on Route 1, police said. Roy Wilson, 46, of Hackensack was driving a 2000 Kenworth Tractor when he was struck from behind by Eddie Johnson, 50, of Ocala, Fla., who was driving a 2000 Volvo Tractor.
Mr. Wilson’s truck was pulling into the Mobile Gas station as it was struck, police said.
The truck then struck the first two pumps closest to the highway and caught fire, police said. Within minutes, the fire spread to the pumps and the station overhang, police said.
The attendants in the station called 911 to report the fire, then fled. The Kendall Park and Monmouth Junction Fire Departments responded to the blaze.
Mr. Johnson was issued a summons for careless driving, police said. The roadway was reopened at 5:30 a.m. Traffic was diverted off Route 1 at Henderson Road during the closure.