A single vehicle accident closed a busy stretch of Highway 15 South for several hours on Friday, February, after a semi loaded with coal flipped in a curve at 2:33 p.m.
The accident happened 15.9 miles south of Jackson on Highway 15 near Arbutis Drive.
According to officials, a green Peterbilt semi loaded with coal was headed north on Highway 15 when it entered a curve near Ned Branch. The driver lost control of the truck, which flipped onto its side and skidded several hundred feet down the roadway.
The truck spilled its load of coal onto the roadway, completely blocking both travel lanes.
The semi was registered to Star Fire Transport, LLC of London, Kentucky.
A witness called 911 and reported the accident and that the truck was leaking fuel.
Officials from the Breathitt County Sheriff’s Office, the Kentucky State Police, Breathitt County Emergency Management, and the Jackson and Watts-Caney Fire Departments responded to the scene.
The driver of the truck was able to exit the vehicle and was “walking around” when officials arrived. He told fire crews that he had approximately 130 gallons of fuel in the truck. The Kentucky Department of Transportation’s Incident Response Team arrived and worked with the fire departments to contain the fuel after only 50 gallons leaked on the roadway.
Several tons of coal had to be removed from the roadway.
As crews worked to clear the scene, the highway department routed drivers through a detour that included Highways 28 and 1110 to direct traffic around the incident while the roadway was closed.
Breathitt-Wolfe Ambulance responded to the scene, but the patient refused transport to the hospital.
The roadway remained closed until 4:42 p.m. while a heavy equipment wrecker was brought to the scene to the right and removed the tuck.
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