by Steve Bradley
A Missouri registered tractor trailer lost control negotiating a turn and overturned in Tibbetts State Forest Wednesday morning. The accident happened about one-quarter mile east of the Man of Kent pub.
The driver of the truck, who appeared to be in his forties, was shaken up and had some lacerations to his head but walked a short distance from the truck to waiting Hoosick Falls Rescue Squad personnel.
[private]First responders were unable to remove the man immediately from the vehicle due to a sheared power line pole. The power lines were contacting the truck, and responders were concerned the entire vehicle and guard rail cables may be carrying electrical current. When National Grid cut power to the lines about 45 minutes after the accident, emergency personal quickly extricated the driver from the vehicle. The driver had to be pulled through an opening that the emergency personnel cut out of the windshield.
The truck, carrying a load of Purina chicken feed, was traveling east and lost control going around the corner. It appeared the trailer got off the road and over the embankment while the truck cab slid down the road. Eventually the trailer pulled the cab off the road and both ended up on the embankment with the rear of the trailer lying on its side at the edge of Shingle Hollow Brook. The cab came to rest almost upside down just off the south side of the roadway. The top of the trailer was ripped open and the trailer’s contents spilled out on to the ground.
Route 7 was expected to be closed until the vehicle could be removed and an investigation completed.
This is the most recent of several truck accidents that have occurred through the one mile stretch of Route 7 that winds its way from Fox Hollow Road to Route 22 through Tibbetts State Forest. The most serious happened in March of 2011 when a propane truck went off the road and burst into flames.
The Rensselaer County Sheriffs Department, Hoosick Fire Department and the Hoosick Falls and Bennington Rescue Squads responded. The Pittstown Fire Department responded with personnel and their emergency rescue truck. Dawson’s Towing was called to remove the vehicle. The Hoosick Falls Fire Department assisted with traffic control.
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