AUBURN – Traffic came to a halt on both sides of Washington Street Tuesday after a tractor-trailer struck an SUV before sliding nose-first into a deep embankment.

No serious injuries were reported, but the 5:15 p.m. wreck caused chaos in both north and southbound lanes.

A southbound Estes Express tractor-trailer collided with an SUV near Danville Corner Road before skidding across the northbound lane and over an embankment.

Police said the woman driving a Dodge Durango pulled from Beech Hill Road into the rig’s path. The truck driver veered to avoid the SUV, clipped it and then crossed the oncoming lane.

To avoid striking a northbound car, police said the truck driver had to go over an embankment that dropped the front of his truck approximately 30 feet down into a ravine.

The driver of the northbound car was grateful for the maneuver.

“She was thankful that he did what he did,” said police Lt. Rick Coron. “By driving into the ditch, he avoided hitting her head-on.”

The names of the drivers involved in the crash were not available hours later. Police said the officer investigating the wreck had gone home.

The front-end flew off the truck and other debris was scattered across railroad tracks that run along the side of north bound Washington Street.

The front-end of the truck sank into mud after landing in a creek at the bottom of the ditch. The trailer remained upright on the embankment, its rear hanging over the side of the road shoulder.

The driver was able to get out of the cab and climb to safety.

Meanwhile, the Dodge Durango that had been struck spun to the side of the northbound lane at the intersection at Beech Hill Road. The woman driving the vehicle was examined for a possible head injuries.

Police responding to the crash were told that at least one vehicle was on fire and several others had been involved in minor wrecks as a result of the first one. Police later said there were no other crashes but that some drivers had stopped in the roadway to help.

Debris was scattered across both north and southbound lanes and cars stopped in the roadway blocked traffic in both directions.

Police and fire crews who responded quickly ordered the northbound lane closed to traffic as rescue efforts got underway.

Firefighters inspected the truck and the area around it, determining that there was no hazardous material leaking as a result of the crash. Still, it was a scene that would tie up emergency crews until after nightfall as clean-up and an investigation continued.

Estes Express is a trucking company based in Richmond, Va. In 2006, the company purchased land on River Road from Gendron & Gendron in Lewiston to build a trucking terminal.