Two Poles Splintered in Half in Trash Truck Crash

The driver of a trash truck that crashed into an utility pole along Highland Street in Hamilton on Monday afternoon was taken to the hospital to be checked out, but was not seriously injured.

The crash happened at about 12:45 p.m. just north of the intersection with Gail Avenue. The Waste Management truck appeared to be headed northbound before the crash and slammed into a double utility pole, snapping both poles off just above the ground. No other vehicles appeared to be involved.

Utility wires hung low, and rested on top of the truck after the crash.

The driver of the truck was out of the truck when rescue crews arrived, said Hamilton Fire Chief Phil Stevens.

The crash had traffic down to one lane on Highland Street for a short stretch of road, between Canter Brook Farm and Pingree School. Hamilton police were directing traffic as northbound and southbound traffic alternatively passed by the crash.

The front of the truck was dented and the front axle appeared broken. The passenger side of the windshield was also cracked.

Stevens said some hydraulic fluid and diesel oil had spilled and was controlled with Speedy Dry, a cat litter like substance. Stevens said the state Department of Environmental Protection was also notified.

The driver was taken away in a Beauport ambulance after the crash but was not believed to have suffered serious injuries and may not have been injured at all, said Hamilton police Sgt. Stephen Trepanier. He was taken to the hospital to be checked out.

Alexandra Nowak of Salem was out walking 3-year-old Simon and 2-year-old Sylvia not far away when they heard the crash. They were out looking at the horses at Canter Brook Farm when Simon thought he heard something, Nowak said.

“He was like ‘what was that noise?’” Nowak said, as all three of them watching emergency crews at work from a distance. The children were interested in the emergency vehicles, she said.

A crew from National Grid had arrived at about 1:15 p.m. to begin work to repairs the wires and poles, but Trepanier said the road would be down to one lane for at least an hour. As of 2:30 p.m., the road was still down to one lane.