Chipper crashes and burns on 35

EAST SHORE — A chipper truck tipped over into a ditch and burst into flames Tuesday afternoon on Montana Highway 35 just around mile marker 5, Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Terry Rosenbaum said.

Rosenbaum said the driver, 44, took his eyes off the road and lost control of the vehicle. The truck went down an embankment, catching its tanks on fire. The driver was thrown through the windshield and was helped away from the fire by bystanders.

Hewas transported to St. Joseph Medical Center in Polson and has several broken ribs, Rosenbaum said.

Firefighters from Finely Point-Yellow Bay Volunteer Fire Department were the first on the scene and put out the fire engulfing the cab.

“The fire was put out very quickly,” Rosenbaum said.

Both lanes of HWY 35 were closed for about a half hour Tuesday afternoon as crews battled the blaze. One lane of traffic was opened at about 3:30 p.m. to allow passage past the accident scene.

As of press time, one lane of traffic was still closed.

Rosenbaum said the flames damaged fiber optic cables that were hanging above the crash site.

For residents along Hwy 35, the scene was not an unfamiliar one. In April 2008, another truck flipped along the road and spilled more than 6,000 gallons of fuel onto properties along the highway. Five families were forced out of their homes because of the contamination and cleanup efforts have cost millions of dollars.

This April, a second truck flipped on the highway, though the truck’s load did not spill, but it did spur further frustrations from area residents.

Following the 2008 catastrophe, East Shore residents began a push to ban oversize and over length vehicles from traveling along Hwy 35. After holding public meetings to address the issues, the Montana Department of Transportation decided to not to recommend any changes.

For this accident, “alcohol was not an issue. Speed was not an issue. It was just careless driving,” Rosenbaum said. “He took his eyes off the road and this is what happened.”