Henniker, N.H : One person died and another man injured in a fiery car crash on Route 202 in Merrimack County on Monday afternoon, December 7, 2015

A 52-year-old man was killed and another man was injured in a fiery car crash Monday afternoon in Henniker, state police said.

Todd Gross of Henniker died after his pickup truck caught fire following the crash around 2:30 p.m. near the intersection of Routes 202 and 127.

The other driver, John Auprey, 46, of Penacook, was taken to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon with serious injuries.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene as people tried to help Gross out of the truck. One man sprayed the truck with a fire extinguisher.

“People were running around, grabbing fire extinguishers, water, anything they could to help,” Travis Larouche said.

Gross was speeding in the breakdown lane when he suddenly merged into traffic and hit Auprey’s car, police said. Both vehicles went off the road, and Gross’s truck rolled over several times, hit a few trees and caught fire.

About a dozen people pulled over to help before first responders arrived.

“I just saw a bunch of dirt in the road and then when I came up closer, I saw smoke coming out of the woods and I saw the truck on its side,” Larouche said. “There were people trying to open up the door, but it wasn’t working.”

Route 202 was closed until approximately 8:30 p.m. while police investigated.

“As far as we know, there’s one occupant in each vehicle,” said Sgt. Charles Johnston of New Hampshire State Police.

The deadly crash wasn’t the first in this part of Route 202. In 2008, a Hopkinton police officer was on his way home when he was struck from behind and killed. A cross marking where he was killed stands just a few feet from where Monday’s crash happened.

Source :

1 dead, 1 injured in fiery crash on Route 202 in Henniker