Pickup truck driver hurt in fiery LIE crash
The driver of a pickup truck was hospitalized with minor injuries after police said he lost control of the vehicle, causing a fiery crash that briefly closed the eastbound Long Island Expressway Monday morning in Medford.
No charges were filed in the crash, which took place near Exit 63, North Ocean Avenue, at about 6:45 a.m.
Suffolk County police said the driver of the pickup truck, whose identity was not released, lost control near the entrance ramp at Exit 63 and crashed into the tractor-trailer, which was carrying a load of plywood.
The tractor-trailer caught fire. The driver of the pickup was trapped -- and, police said, he had to be extricated by the tractor-trailer driver and a passerby. The driver of the tractor-trailer suffered minor injuries but was not hospitalized.
Police said the pickup truck driver was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue. His condition was not known.
Volunteer firefighters from Medford and Yaphank extinguished the blaze. The eastbound LIE was closed at Exit 62, Blue Point Road, in Holtsville, until 8:09 a.m., when the roadway was reopened.
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