WILTON – The driver of a small truck was injured Thursday after two tires from a garbage truck traveling in the opposite lane on Route 2 rolled into his path, causing him to crash into a small bus and the tanker to tip over.
The truck, a flatbed with tanks on it, was hauling diesel fuel and water, Wilton police officer Dustin Broughton said Thursday.
The truck carried a 1,000-gallon water tank, and a diesel tank about the same size.
About half of the fuel spilled onto the property of Double D’s Auto, causing $15,000 in property damage, he said.
The accident happened at 4:50 a.m.
Duane Locke, 41, of Starks, driver of the tank truck, was taken by ambulance to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington.
He had a cut on the back of his neck and complained of shoulder pain, the officer said.
A hospital spokeswoman said Locke was treated and released.
The three-axle garbage truck owned by Waste Management of Maine and driven by Christopher Edgerly, 37, of Madison, and the small passenger bus owned by North Atlantic Scaffolding in Portland and driven by Brandon Ryder, 22, of Wilton, were both heading east toward Farmington on the highway.
Locke was heading west and when the two tires came off the axle of the garbage truck near Indian Head Rock, his truck hit the tires, Broughton said.
One of the tires went under the vehicle, causing Locke to lose control and go into the eastbound lane and collide with the passenger bus, he said. The bus wasn’t carrying any passengers, Broughton said.
The tank truck then hit an embankment and rolled onto its side, the officer said.
The state police commercial vehicle unit and the Department of Environmental Protection were called to the scene.
Wilton firefighters kept traffic moving, he added.
The tank truck and the bus were totaled, Broughton said.
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