The driver of a commercial truck that slid into the South Santiam River, east of Cascadia, escaped serious injury Monday morning, according to Oregon State Police.
OSP troopers responded Monday to a report that a commercial truck had crashed into the river near milepost 47.3, about five miles west of the Mountain House, at 7:56 a.m..
According to State Police records, the truck had veered left around a curve and lost traction. The driver, Samuel Hoy Patten, 48, whose city of residence was not listed, attempted to negotiate the curve but ultimately lost traction.
The vehicle continued forward and traveled over an embankment and down into the river. Upon the arrival of a state trooper, the tractor truck was half-submerged in the river, according to reports.
Sweet Home Ranger District Hydrologist Lance Gatchell responded to the scene on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service.
“The driver got out safely,” he said.
A hazardous materials team responded and put floating booms out downst ream at the site of the crash and Short Bridge in Cascadia to catch diesel that leaked from the truck’s fuel tanks. The diesel floats on the surface and can be stopped and collected at the booms.
The Forest Service responded to make sure the spill was cleaned up and to monitor the work, Gatchell said. Highway 20 was closed between one and two hours while three tow trucks pulled the crashed truck from the river.
Gatchell said the vehicle was an empty chip truck, and the road was covered with snow at the time. The company whose name is on the truck, OJ Trucking, is based in Irrigon.