SAN JACINTO: Big-Rig towing hay loses load in rollover accident
A Riverside County sheriff official diverts traffic away from the rollover accident. Ricardo Ruelas/Hemet News photo
SAN JACINTO – Traffic was left backed up for several miles after a tractor-trailer big-rig towing hay bales rolled over onto its side Wednesday, Dec. 7.
The rollover accident happened as the semi-truck was turning from eastbound Ramona Expressway onto northbound Sanderson Avenue.
CHP officers, Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies and other emergency first responders were dispatched to the scene of the accident after numerous witnesses called 911 to report the accident about 7:55 a.m.
Callers told emergency dispatchers that the truck driver managed to exit the cab of his vehicle and appeared to be uninjured, according to a CHP incident log.
When they arrived, officials found the overturned truck laying on its side. The overturned truck, trailer and bales of hay were partially blocking the northbound lanes of traffic on Sanderson and westbound lanes of traffic on Ramona Expressway. Vehicles were slowly working their way past the accident in all directions.
Employees work to move and re-stack the spilled hay load. Miguel Shannon/Epicenter News photo
When the semi-truck overturned it lost its load of hay. Most of the hay spilled onto a dirt embankment on the northeast corner of the intersection.
Cal Fire/Riverside County firefighters and AMR medics evaluated the driver at the scene. The driver, an employee of W.D. Young & Sons, declined further treatment.
Cal Fire personnel also assessed and cleaned up fuel that had reportedly spilled from at least one of the big-rigs saddle tanks.
Two tow/wreckers were summoned to the scene of the accident to pull the rig and trailer back onto its wheels and then to two the truck from the scene.
While the wreckers were working to right the tractor and trailer, all northbound lanes of traffic were diverted away from the scene of the accident, leaving morning commuters frustrated and many late for work. The big rig sustained minor damage in the rollover accident.
All of the spilled bales of hay had to be re-stacked by employees of the company and then loaded onto a different flatbed tractor-trailer that was summoned to the scene.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation and it has not yet been determined if the driver was traveling too fast or if the hay load shifted, causing the accident.
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Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, Personnel and Background Investigations and he finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator.
Trevor has been married for more than 26 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 12 – soon to be 13 – grandchildren.