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A truck driven from Canada was lodged in the tunnel that leads from Butler to the Demossville area last Tuesday. The truck was cleared from the tunnel, allowing schools to be dismissed on time. Photo by Mayor Mason Taylor.
By Carolyn Reid
It may not have been the worst of times, but it certainly was not the best of times for two different CDL drivers and their rigs as they passed through the county this past week.
Tuesday, emergency crews were called into a situation in the Butler railroad underpass. A Canadian driver trying to get to Crittenden used a popular map app to navigate his way. According to First Responder and Mayor Mason Taylor, that app took him through Cincinnati, onto the AA Highway, down U.S. 27 and across State Route 177 East into Butler where he met with the tunnel.
The semi’s empty trailer set the stage for what happened next. The tractor made it through. The trailer, unfortunately, did not; instead, the top and sides peeled and caved as they met with the top of the 10-foot tunnel.
“Any weight [on the trailer] would have stopped him easily,” Taylor commented. Since nothing was in the trailer to catch on the roof of the tunnel, the trailer made it a good way through before it was stuck, blocking traffic until CSX, whose tracks run across the tunnel, and Commercial Vehicle Enforcement could respond along with county first responders.
Taylor says this is the third truck he has dealt with being stuck in the tunnel since he took on the role of firefighter. As mayor, the possibility of this happening again, with possibly worse results, is leading him to work for changes on the 20-foot stretch of one-lane highway leading into and out of Butler.
Taylor says he was glad the truck was heading to Crittenden and not heading back to Canada with a load. At that point, the situation could have been more serious, he says, as toxic materials could have been inside the trailer.
Two days later, a semi loaded with off-line Girl Scout cookies was headed to Darling’s Bakery Feeds on Griffin Road when a wheel-bearing ignited, setting the trailer on fire.
The incident happened on U.S. 27 in front of Sharp Middle School. The location of the fire shut down the highway for nearly four hours and delayed school for two hours.
According to Deputy Steve Linville, the call went through at approximately 3:15 a.m. His official report states, “Upon my arrival, the driver had already disconnected the tractor from the trailer, thus containing the fire to the trailer.”
The report goes on to say the driver, Jessie Morrison of O’Hara Trucking, heard a “loud pop and saw smoke and sparks coming from the tandems of his trailer.”
Morrison was able to move the trailer to the turning lane at Wright Road, leaving room for early-morning traffic and for emergency vehicles.
The morning temperatures led first responders to call the State Highway Department to treat the road for ice buildup at the site. According to the report, the department would return later to put down sand to help clean up the sugary residue left behind by the melted cargo. The trailer was a total loss.
Neither driver was hurt, but many who heard initial news reports mourned the loss of Girl Scout cookies until the truth was known: they were either expired or contaminated.
Thankfully, no one took to the street to gather spilled cookies, as tempting as it may have been.