| |
At the scene of a truck accident |
|
Click on pictures to enlarge and click your back
button to return. |
Fire at Kovatch Truck Center |
|
|
Tractor trailer wreck at 209 & 54.
October 15,1987 |
Truck roll over at Rt. 209 & 93 |
|
Truck wreck Rt. 209 & 93
August 1, 2008 |
A tractor-trailer, fully loaded with cases and plastic
buckets of dish detergent, apparently lost its brakes while descending
the Broad Mountain (SR93) in Nesquehoning Thursday morning, sped across
busy SR209 at the base of the hill without hitting any other vehicles,
and rolled onto its side.
The impact caused it to spill its cargo onto an embankment along 209
with a large amount of detergent spilling onto the road. Route 209 was
closed at the 93 intersection for about three hours.
Mike Mitzen, a Nesquehoning fireman, was at a service station near the
scene of the accident and saw the truck wreck. Within seconds he ran to
the vehicle. As he approached the truck he saw that the truck was on
fire. With the use of a fire extinguisher he put out the flames as they approached
the cab of the vehicle. His quick action probably saved the driver from
being burned to death.
The trucker, whose identity wasn't available at the scene, was pinned in
the twisted cab of the large truck. He was freed by members of the
Nesquehoning Fire Department, transported from the scene by
firefighters, Lehighton Ambulance Corps members, and Nesquehoning
Ambulance Corps members, and placed in a MedEvac helicopter which landed
in a field next to the accident site.
Chief of Police Sean Smith said it's somewhat of a miracle that the
driver crossed the two-lanes of 209 without striking any vehicles. Smith
said had any vehicles been passing there probably would have been a
fatality.
The vehicle leaned against the embankment with about two-thirds of the
top of trailer ripped open. Emergency personnel who climbed the
embankment to render aid to the trucker endured extremely slippery
conditions because of the spilled detergent.
A small dam using dirt was established along 209 to prevent the liquid
from escaping too far from the scene. There was also material spread by
firefighting personnel on top of the spilled liquid.
The truck driver apparently didn't realize his brakes were gone until
passing a truck runoff about a quarter of the way from the bottom of the
winding hill. At the base of the hill he entered the left-bound lane of
traffic, careened across a grassy area, and entered 209 where the
vehicle overturned. |
|