- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Driver escapes injury after semi overturns, rolls into lake
CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – The driver of a lumber truck was uninjured on Wednesday after the vehicle rolled over and into Clear Lake, closing a portion of Highway 20 and resulting in a small diesel spill.
The crash occurred just before 11:30 a.m. in the area of Widgeon Bay on Highway 20 at Hillside Lane, according to reports from the scene.
The truck rolled off the highway and partially into Widgeon Bay, with firefighters arriving on scene reporting that the cab was not in the water but the driver was trapped.
Firefighters were able to extricate the driver, who was uninjured, according to Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos.
Beristianos said he was amazed that the driver escaped injury, considering the smashed up condition of the truck's cab.
Reports from the scene said both the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Lake County Environmental Health were notified due to concerns about a diesel spill at the scene.
Beristianos said firefighters got booms in place, and while there was diesel in the grass and dirt on the shoulder, there was no sheen on the lake, which would have resulted if diesel had gotten to the water.
Environmental Health Director Ray Ruminski, who also was at the scene, said that while the truck's fuel tanks were leaking – and there also may have been some engine oil that escaped – firefighters kept the fluids from moving very far with containment equipment and materials.
Like Beristianos, Ruminski said he could see no sheen of petroleum on the water, although he said that if there is diesel in the mud and vegetation on the bank there was concern that it could seep into the lake.
Ruminski said the truck's trailer had rolled over onto the steep slope that is the highway shoulder, with some of the lumber load going into the lake.
Also responding to the scene was the Sheriff's Marine Patrol, the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans, Ruminski said.
The North Shore Dive Team had been dispatched but was canceled after a fire district battalion chief arrived and found the truck cab was not in the water, Beristianos said.
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