Video: Last Week’s Truck Fire on 684 is Symbolic of the Commute

Last week on the Ethan and Lou Show, we spoke about a cement truck fire on 684 during our "Live & Local" segment.

Get our free mobile app

First, I received an alert from "the news wire" (we still have those). It was a few sentences, something like: "Traffic was snarled for miles on 684 yesterday after an apparent cement truck fire."

It was literally one of those things that is missing a lot of vital information. When you have a story like this, you can't really dedicate much time to it, even on a morning show where you're paid to speculate.

These stories do matter to the folks who are stuck in the traffic, they want to know who, what, when, where and why? The story was doomed to just go away and be another "who cares" event until I saw a post from Veronique Finnerty on Facebook. It was three separate videos that answered the "what" and a lot of the "who" with stunning visuals.

I reached out to Veronique to get her permission to use the videos, ask if she'd like to be credited and she agreed. When I asked her for a quote about the truck fire, this is what she sent me:

“Brewster Ready Mix hottest prices around!”

That is funny, I don't care where you are from. You end up with a sense of humor like that in one of two ways, your parents pass it down, or you find it after years of battling 684 traffic. I'm guessing in Veronique's case, it's a little bit of both.

You cannot travel 684 and not laugh. If you don't find humor in this ride, you'll cry everyday. It is a soul-crushing, maddening exercise that makes you question your life.

These people make this journey because they love their families. They're headed off in search of bigger paychecks in Westchester and NYC to bring home to their adoring families. There is simply no other reason to intentionally trudge down 684, morning after morning.

Veronique is one of many followers to the 684 Commuters Group, a private Facebook page that is dedicated to sharing information about the morning commute. Some of the followers are simply there to complain about 684, and that is fine too.

I joined because my past 684 commute still haunts me many years later. I have not commuted on 684 since 1999, so that should tell you what an impact this highway has on people, it's a sickening ride almost every morning.

Thank you Veronique for sharing this video with the public. According to News 12 The Bronx, the driver of the truck was OK and the fire took place between exits 6A and 7.

Watch using the Youtube below, if you don't have "the gram."

P.S. My hats off to all of you who travel 684 every morning, you should walk tall today, knowing that there are people who respect and understand what you're going through.