AMHERST — A passenger car and a box truck filled with paper products were both destroyed after catching on fire during a rear-end collision on Bay Road near Chapel Road Thursday afternoon last week, according to police.
Two days later, less than a mile to the east on Bay Road, another rear-end crash occurred, with one of the vehicles heavily damaged when it caught on fire.
In both cases, police said the drivers and occupants were able to get out well before any of the vehicles became engulfed.
During the Thursday incident, which occurred at 12:45 p.m., emergency responders were on the scene for about three hours. The damage was significant enough that even the pavement was scarred.
Last Saturday’s crash occurred at 3:28 p.m. and police and fire were there for about an hour.
Fire Chief Walter “Tim” Nelson said it is unusual to have two such crashes with cars catching on fire in a span of three days, especially since auto manufacturers have worked to reduce such incidents after the controversy over Ford Pintos, a 1970s-era vehicle in which the gas tank ruptured during rear-end collisions.
“There’s still a chance a fuel line, a transmission line or an oil line could be damaged in such a way as to come in contact with a hot engine,” Nelson said. “But it’s a rarity that a fire will catch.”
