If it weren’t for two bystanders and a team of quick first responders, officials say Billerica’s wetlands, wells, and infrastructure would have seen a lot more damage after 13,000 gallons of heating oil spilled from an overturned truck on Jan. 16.

Micah Trudeau and Keith Titus from Trudeau Landscape Co. leapt to action once they noticed a crash between a car and a heating oil truck at the intersection of Salem Road and Gray Street in Billerica that left red-tinted oil oozing down the road, according to a Town of Billerica Facebook post.

“Fortunately we happened to be on the same road when the crash occurred and could assist in the containment of the fuel spill and help the driver climb out of the tanker truck,” the landscaping company said in a comment.


Trudeau told WCVB that they grabbed shovels and began digging dirt up from the edge of the road, making a dam to contain the oil flow.

The station reported that if the oil had gone just 10 feet farther along the road, it might have leaked into a manhole and possibly into the town’s wastewater treatment system.

“With minimal instruction they began making a dam out of earth and stopped the flow of oil heading down the road,” Capt. Matthew Battcock wrote in a letter to the town’s fire chief. “I went to another area of the incident and they stayed and continued to help Engine 4 firefighters make a dam across the entire roadway.”

On Monday, Billerica officials thanked and recognized their firefighters, Department of Public Works employees, and Trudeau and Titus.

“It is my professional opinion that if these men didn’t get involved when they did, the incident would have been larger, more difficult to manage, and the environmental impact would have been more significant,” Battcock said.

The landscapers said they’re thankful the crash wasn’t worse and that the driver was able to walk away.

“We were in the right place at the right time,” Trudeau told WCVB.