REVERE – The tanker truck explosion that destroyed homes and cars in Everett Wednesday underscores Fire Chief Eugene Doherty’s worries about a similar disaster occurring in Revere.A tanker carrying about 9,400 gallons of gasoline overturned shortly after 1:30 a.m. at the meeting point of Routes 16 and 99 after the driver lost control of the truck, flipped over and struck a guard rail.Cars parked outside nearby residences caught fire and exploded as the puddle of burning fuel pooled around them. At least two multifamily homes and as many as 40 cars were destroyed, but residents and the truck driver fled without injury.John Malone, who lived in one of the buildings that was destroyed, said he saw flames outside his window when his girlfriend woke him. More concerning, though, was fuel from the truck that he watched move toward the homes.”It was like a river,” he said. “I just grabbed my girlfriend and her aunt and ran.”The accident mirrored a 2006 tanker accident in Brown Circle that occurred in heavy daytime traffic next to a gas station. The truck and its 10,000-gallon fuel load did not ignite, but firefighters laid down a precautionary coating of fire retardant foam.”We’ve been extremely fortunate,” Doherty said, noting that heavy trucks travel the highways that crisscross the city, including Lee Burbank Highway, where two oil and gasoline distributions firms are located.The department currently hauls a foam-carrying trailer to fuel spills.The trailer’s load of fire retardant must be mixed with water before it can be spread. Doherty wants to outfit the trailer with water-mixing equipment that will allow the foam to be spread as soon as the trailer arrives at an accident scene.Two new fire engines the city plans to purchase will be equipped with foam equipment. The engines will be based at the Freeman Street station and the new North Revere station. A new ladder truck will be based at the new station under construction on Revere Beach Parkway.The city is spending $1.7 million on the three trucks and Doherty hopes to have them in service in six months.Frozen hydrants and icy conditions brought on by temperatures well below freezing initially hampered firefighters’ efforts to fight Wednesday’s fuel blaze. By mid-morning, as the smell of fuel and burning wood mixed, firefighters continued to pour water on one of the ruined triple-decker homes. Two light poles that collapsed during the explosion lay across the road near a line of burned-out cars, all encased in ice.Among those evacuated were 84 residents of an elderly housing complex that was threatened, but did not burn, Butler said. About 47 residents were taken from nearby triple-deckers, including the two that were destroyed. Evacuees were brought to a nearby armory for shelter, where the Red Cross was assisting them.”The alarm went off and we all took off out of there,” said Francis Mahoney, who lives at the complex and was standing outside the armory wearing sandals and socks because he had to leave so quickly. “All we saw was the flames in front. We had to get out of there.”The driver of the tanker, Chad LaFrance, 30, of Dover, N.H., was cited for speeding and for not carrying his medical certificate, which verifies his health. He was uninjured in the crash.LaFrance worked for Abenaqui Carriers, Inc. of North Hampton, N.H., state police said. A message left at the company was not returned Wednesday.New Hampshire licensing records show LaFrance has a valid commercial driver’s license. The records list three speeding violations from 2000 to 2002 involving LaFrance’s personal vehicle, as well as two failures to have his vehicle inspected. There also was a violation involving an unregistered vehicle.Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records for P.S. Marston Associates, LLC – the corporate entity that owns Abenaqui – show the company’s 83 commercial trucks and 105 drivers had been involved in four accidents in New England over the past 21/2 years. There were injuries a