US (MA): Police blame Chiquita for fire in historic building
"The report from the trooper indicated that a load shift in the container contributed to the tractor flipping over. The company Chiquita Fresh North America was cited for failure to prevent cargo shifting," said Seekonk Police Captain Craig Mace.
The fire took place on June 24 around 6:00 am when the tractor trailer truck rolled over as it was coming around a curve. The truck struck a gas meter and caused an explosion that destroyed the Grist Mill which was built in 1745.
"If you travel the gristmill curve it has quite the radius so if weight shifts, we do it all the time in regular cars and can feel ourselves pulling to a certain direction, so if something was not properly secured, outright shifted over and top heavy as that might have been because it was a container full of bananas it doesn’t take much probably to flip something over," said Mace.
Mace said no one else will be cited in the incident. "The driver will not be cited nor the truck company. As far as I could see there was no fault found or any indication of impairment or wrong doing by either."
The restaurant owners plan to rebuild.
Source: 630wpro.com
