On the morning of Friday, May 13, 1949, a hazardous materials truck caught fire while passing through the Holland Tunnel, which travels under the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey.
The 1996 motion picture Daylight, starring Sylvester Stallone, was loosely based on this incident.
At 8:30 a.m. a truck carrying eighty 55-gallon (210 L) drums of carbon disulfide entered the southern tube at the New Jersey portal.
[1][2]: 105 After the truck had traveled east for approximately 2,900 feet (880 m) in heavy traffic, one of the drums broke free of its restraints, fell onto the roadway and cracked open.
Vapor released from the drum was ignited when it came into contact with a hot surface, probably a brake shoe or exhaust pipe.
[3]: 6 Carbon disulfide vapor ignites when raised to a temperature of 194 °F (90 °C), so it was considered highly flammable; moreover, it could be deadly if inhaled in large amounts.
The tunnel west of the fire became gridlocked with traffic; ultimately, 125 vehicles became stuck in the tube before it was closed.
[3]: 7 At the time of the fire, the tunnel was operated by the Port Authority, which had control of various other transportation facilities in the area as well.
[2]: 109 [3]: 7 The wreckage was cleared up quickly,[7] and the eastbound tunnel reopened to traffic on the evening of Sunday, May 15.
The infrastructure suffered extensive damage: approximately 650 short tons (590 tonnes) of rubble were removed during the weekend before the tunnel reopened.
Instead, the south tube was closed at 8 p.m. each night, after which hundreds of feet of mobile scaffold and other equipment was hauled in.
Reconstruction work was carried out overnight until approximately 4:30 a.m., at which time the construction equipment and scaffold was hauled out before the tunnel re-opened at 6 a.m.[8] The repairs were completed by mid-August 1949.
[2]: 111 [9] At the time, the driver of the truck could only be charged with a misdemeanor, which carried a maximum fine of $50 and a jail sentence of up to five days.
[7] After the fire, the Port Authority advocated for the enactment of stiffer fines in both the New York and New Jersey legislatures.