Tractor Trailer Overturns on U.S. 219
By ANTHONY GAYNOR, Staff WriterArticle Photos
Natasha Welsch and her children were "playing on the Internet" Wednesday evening when she heard the loud pop of a tire blowing out followed by a screeching sound. She grabbed her kids and ran out the back door. When the chaos settled, she found a tractor trailer lying in her front yard.
A Burns Freight 19-wheeler carrying sawdust was traveling toward Elkins on U.S. 219/250 between Mill Creek and Valley Bend when a tire blew out. According to Randolph County Sheriff Deputy M.P. Dyer, the driver, Mark Watson, 40, of Dailey lost control, flipped the truck onto its side and smashed into the guardrail. The accident caused slight damage to Welsch's home.
The guardrail was smashed for several feet and the asphalt near where the truck came to a rest was covered with deep scrape marks.
The truck also caught electrical wires and caused a utility pole to break off and hang in the middle of the road. Another utility pole was broken off and was caught in a tree beside Welsch's house.
A second tractor trailer driven by Dave Sites Jr., 50, of Rock Cave, caught the hanging wires left by the first truck and also had to stop.
According to Deputy J.A. Burns, the northbound lane of U.S. 219/250 remained closed this morning to repair the utility polls. West Virginia Department of Highways is allowing traffic to travel through the area one lane at a time. Burns expects the road to be fully open sometime this afternoon.
According to Dyer, the same house located in what the 911 dispatcher described as "Quick's Turn," has been struck by vehicles in the past.
Deputies Burns and B.T. Pawelczyk assisted at the accident. The Mill Creek/Huttonsville and Tygart Valley Volunteer Fire Departments also responded. The accident is still under investigation.
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audyhaze
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09-11-08 7:02 PM
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Why doesn't the state take that turn out or make it straight!! I wouldn't want to live in that house 30-seconds. OMG....
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