LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A semi truck hauling cattle crashed on Highway 20 east of Clearlake Oaks on Sunday night, causing an extended closure of the highway.
The wreck was reported at around 7 p.m. Sunday on Highway 20 east of Mule Skinner Road near Walker Ridge Road, in the area of mile post marker 41, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP reported that the big rig, full of 36 head of cattle loaded in Orland and headed to Arcata, rolled over onto its side. Cows were out of the truck and the roadway was blocked due to the animals.
About 45 minutes after the initial crash, there was a report that a sedan had hit one of the cows. The CHP received calls about other cows in the roadway.
Livestock trucks and heavy tow trucks responded to the scene on Sunday night to move the living and dead animals as well as the overturned truck itself.
The CHP reported that there also were resulting hazmat issues.
Officials closed Highway 20 shortly after 8 p.m. near Walker Ridge Road on the Lake County side and near E Street in Williams, the CHP reported.
Caltrans reported late Sunday that the roadway was expected to be reopened by midnight.
However, the CHP said it was 1:30 a.m. Monday before one-way traffic control was in place at the crash site and the closure on the Williams side had been cleared.
This is the second overturned semi on that stretch of Highway 20 in the last four months.
On Oct. 6, a double-decker semi truck transporting cattle from Fortuna to Tennessee overturned on Highway 20 near Cache Creek, about three miles from the location of the Sunday wreck, after the CHP said the driver took the turns in that stretch of highway too quickly.
That crash also resulted in animals being killed. A multiagency rescue took place to remove the surviving animals.
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Cattle truck crash closes Highway 20
- Elizabeth Larson
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