Fire tanker rolled

BENTON COUNTY — The tanker is ruined but Fire Chief Frank Rizzio escaped with only minor injuries when he rolled the tanker onto its side Wednesday.

Rizzio crawled out of the shattered windshield of the tanker truck after it landed on its right side off U.S. Highway 62 at Avoca. Rizzio was on his way to a structure fire in Avoca about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Rizzio escaped with a bump on the head and a scraped shoulder, he said.

Traffic at the intersection was blocked for more than an hour while employees with P & J Trucking and Towing of Tontitown disassembled the drive train before pulling the The 4,000-gallon county-owned tanker, a 1985 Ford L9000, onto its wheels, then towing it away.

Marshal Watson, administrator of public safety for Benton County, said the county-owned truck was purchased by Benton County in 1994 for $59,000.

State Trooper George Enke said he wrote a warning for failure to maintain control. Rizzio was treated, then released, at the hospital.

“The tanker was full, it was top heavy and it topped over against a tree,” Enke said. “There are skid marks on the east side of the intersection before he turned.”

There have been no insurance claims on Fire Department equipment in the past five years, according to Pea Ridge City Recorder/Treasurer Sandy Button.

Rizzio said there have been different incidents involving minor damage to trucks with different people driving, including him, but that all the equipment is well maintained and all the drivers are properly trained in driving emergency vehicles.

“Part of it is the way the newtrucks are designed and it’s tough on them in rural areas,” Rizzio said, referring to a time a light bar was knocked off by a tree limb and a truck high centered on a dirt road. “We’ve had different things, but it’s been minor - like clipping off a mirror.”

“It’s not rampant, but it’s (damage) been known to happen,” Rizzio said.

“Rolling over a 65,000-pound apparatus is certainly a significant event within the industry, as well as our department,” Rizzio said. “A full investigation is underway, supplemental training is being initiated and final investigative results will be disclosed when complete.”

In accordance with the city’s personnel policy, Rizzio was tested for drugs or alcohol in his system at the hospital emergency room with Mayor Jackie Crabtree’s supervision. Results were not available as of press deadline.