copyright the Chronicle February 8, 2017
by Elizabeth Trail
NEWPORT — “It wasn’t that big, honestly,” Newport City Fire Chief Jamie LeClair said over the phone before any question was asked.
Ever since late Monday afternoon when a single 42-gallon barrel of maple syrup fell out of a pickup truck on the I91 exit 27 ramp outside of Newport, Mr. LeClair’s phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from the media asking about the big spill.
He’s heard from CNBC, CNN, NBC, Fox News, USA Today, just for starters.
Boston Magazine wanted to know how the spill might affect global syrup prices.
Bostonians learn about the Great Molasses Flood of 1919, when a storage tank in the city’s north end burst, and a 35 mile-an-hour wave of molasses swept through the streets, killing 21 people.
Chief LeClair even got a text in the middle of the night from his son, who is deployed overseas, wanting to know if he was still on the scene.
“I can’t believe maple syrup is that big news,” he said. “If the puddle was six feet across, that would be an exaggeration.”
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