Wood chip truck topples in Wilton

WILTON — The driver of a tractor-trailer escaped with minor injuries Monday when the rig failed to negotiate a sharp corner on Route 156 and rolled onto its side.

Stephen Wilson, 41, of Thorndike was transporting wood chips to ReEnergy in Livermore Falls for P&D Transport Inc. of Knox, according to Wilton police Sgt. Chad Abbott.

Wilson was driving a 2003 Peterbilt truck owned by Paul Jones of Knox west at approximately 11 a.m. He apparently missed the corner where the McCrillis Corner Road and Barron Road connect to Route 156, Abbott said.

Wilson did not appear to be going too fast, according to witnesses, Abbott said.

“He just failed to negotiate the curve,” he said.

Wilson was checked for minor injuries by NorthStar ambulance service personnel at the scene but was not taken to the hospital, Abbott said.

The vehicle snapped an electricity pole, toppled over and spewed chips on Kathy Thompson’s lawn. Thompson said she heard the truck and went to the window in time to see it roll.

Thompson and her sister were searching for her cat, a partially blind Siamese, who was in the yard at the time of the accident.

Members of the Wilton Fire Department and Farmington Fire and Rescue responded to the scene. Wilton firefighters began cleaning up fuel from the truck.

“He plowed up enough dirt to cover fluids on the ground,” Wilton fire Deputy Chief Tom Doak said.

Central Maine Power was called for the pole and Collins Wrecker for the truck, Abbott said.

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