OAKLAND, NJ - On February 26, 2005 at 3:08pm the Oakland Fire Department was dispatched to a motor vehicle accident with reported entrapment. Upon arrival it was learned that a Jeep Cherokee had rear ended a tractor trailer at a high rate of speed and the driver had self-extricated himself, suffering non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the tractor trailer pulled the truck up the road coming to a stop on the shoulder and advised that he was shipping a very flammable substance called Pyridine and that he believed it was leaking from the rear of the trailer. The NJSP closed I-287 South except for the left lane, which caused a 10 mile back up during rush hour traffic. With the assistance of the Bergen County and Mahwah HazMat teams it was determined there was no leak. Assisting in covering Oakland during the incident, which lasted over 3 hours, was the Franklin Lakes, Pompton Lakes, and Ringwood fire Departments.
