
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 6, 1993                   TAG: 9308060196
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Short

TISSUES PLUG FUEL LEAK WHILE TRUCKER AWAITS AID

Mike Wray of Rocky Mount wasn't sure whether the brand was Kleenex, Scotty's or some other brand, but the tissues he grabbed from his truck did stop the leak in his gas tank.

"Rag wouldn't do it, but tissues did the job," he said.

Wray was driving a load of treated lumber south on Interstate 81 toward Dublin about 1 p.m. Thursday when one of his tires blew out. He came to a stop just after crossing the New River bridge into Pulaski County.

All he saw in his rear-view mirror were black fumes that he assumed came from the rubber tire. Once he got out, he realized the blow-out had somehow punched a hole in his gas tank.

Trooper L.W. Findley said emergency services workers reached the truck about the same time as state police units. Units from the Newbern and Pulaski County Fire Departments joined a state Hazardous Materials Response Unit at the scene in case they were needed.

by CNB