Truck crash near Grants Pass could take days to clean up - Gate House

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October 08. 2014 3:31PM Truck crash near Grants Pass could take days to clean up Recovering a commercial truck and the plywood it was hauling when it tumbled down an embankment north of Grants Pass Tuesday could take days, officials said. At about 12:50 p.m. a 2010 Freightliner truck from A&M Lumber Transport pulling a semi-trailer loaded with lumber was heading south on Interstate 5 near milepost 70 when the driver lost control. The driver, 45-year-old Maceo Boston III of Grants Pass, reported he saw something in the road, according to The Daily Courier in Grants Pass. The truck struck the metal guard rail and tore through several posts and additional guard rail sections before flying off the freeway and hundreds of feet down an embankment. The truck wedged between two trees and the trailer landed on its side, OSP said. Its location was not visible from the highway. Another semi truck driver stopped at the crash site, hurried down the embankment and extinguished a small fire that had ignited in the vehicle. About 180 gallons of diesel fuel spilled out of the wreckage toward nearby Rat Creek. Emergency personnel from the Rural/Metro Fire Department and American Medical Response Ambulance responded to the scene, along with OSP and the Oregon Department of Transportation. Firefighters helped Boston back up to the freeway, where he was transported to Asante Three Rivers Medical Center in Grants Pass with minor injuries. A hazardous materials team was called to the scene to handle the diesel spill at the request of A&M. An Oregon Department of Transportation official told The Daily Courier that the plywood will have to be unloaded and carried up the hill. Then the truck and trailer can be pulled up. — Ryan Pfeil http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141008/NEWS/141009697 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->