UPDATE: 299E reopened after big-rig overturns near Round Mountain

UPDATED: Friday, March 15, 7:15 a.m., With road closure update.

ROUND MOUNTAIN — Authorities are investigating a tractor-trailer crash this morning, Friday, March 15, after the big-rig’s driver reportedly swerved to avoid a pair of deer on 299E. The rollover happened near Buzzard Roost Rd. in the Intermountain community of Round Mountain.

The early morning wreck wreaked havoc for commuters and area residents trying to reach their morning destinations, but the roadway has since been cleared. According to CHP, both lanes of the winding, two-lane mountain roadway were reopened around 7 a.m.

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Evidence possibly links pair to numerous recent Intermountain area burglaries

This morning’s wreck was at least the second major deer-related crash in the area over the last four days, after a man swerved to avoid a deer while driving on Churn Creek Rd. March 11, and plowed into a Redding home. The residence sustained major structural damage, but nobody was home or injured in the solo-vehicle crash.

CHP and other emergency personnel were dispatched to the crash around 2 a.m., after receiving reports of a tractor-trailer combo that had tipped over and spilled its load of pellets onto the highway, KRCR News reported this morning. The wreck happened about halfway between Redding and Burney.

The big-rig driver, who was reportedly uninjured in the crash, later told CHP he had swerved to avoid two deer that were wandering across the highway. The driver’s swerving motion caused the truck’s trailer to begin tipping, which caused both the truck and its trailer to overturn on the roadway. The overturned rig and trailer came to rest blocking both directions of travel.

Contacted for information at the time, CHP could not provide an estimate when the highway would be reopened and said all traffic was being diverted to Highways 44 and 89.

Work crews eventually moved the wrecked big rig and trailer to the shoulder of the highway and began allowing one-way traffic control in the eastbound lane, past the scene of the crash.

SEE RELATED: Man swerves to avoid deer, plows into Redding home

CHP later updated that both directions of travel had been reopened around 7 a.m.

CHP’s investigation into the crash is active and ongoing and officials have not released any additional information or details.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor 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, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with 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, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.