A fire resulting from a collision between a dump truck and an oil truck last week destroyed a warehouse in Ulster Park on Route 9W and closed a portion of the road for several hours.
Two truck drivers escaped with only minor burns after the accident at 8:15 a.m. June 29. The warehouse stored porcelain reproductions of classic signs and apparently also held fireworks.?According to the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, a dump truck owned by the J.W. Smith Co. of Marlboro and driven by Jeffrey W. Kays, 55, of Milton, was northbound towing paving equipment to a job site in Ulster Park when he passed his intended turnoff and attempted to turn around. A northbound oil tank truck owned by Bottini Fuel Co., driven by Kevin M. Jiave, 42, of Hyde Park,  struck the driver”™s side of the turning dump truck causing both vehicles to become engulfed in flames.?The Bottini truck was carrying 3,000 gallons of fuel oil and the collision caused a fireball that could be seen for miles around and even in Hyde Park, across the Hudson River from the crash site.?The fire from the trucks spread to a warehouse owned by Ande Rooney Inc., and that building also became engulfed in flames, authorities said. No one was in the building at the time.
The warehouse was used primarily to store merchandise for the Highland-based porcelain sign and magnet company, owned by Rooney, but there also were fireworks inside the structure, and they were set off by the fire, making it difficult for firefighters to battle the blaze, authorities said.
A woman who answered the phone at the Ande Rooney”™s Choice Ltd. in Highland said Rooney was not available and declined to discuss what was in the warehouse. Â The company”™s website says it makes and sells porcelain reproductions of classic advertising signs
Rooney”™s husband, Peter, is the Republican candidate for the 101st state Assembly District seat now held by Democrat Kevin Cahill.
