Rollover shuts down highway
Photo by Aaric Bryan Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Keith Danhof and Columbia Falls’ driver Maurice Turner inspect the wreckage of his truck Tuesday on Highway 200 near Plains. The wreck shut down both lanes of traffic for nearly three hours.
The driver of the semitrailer that rolled on its side, spilling its load of timber and shutting down both lanes of traffic on Highway 200 for about three hours last Tuesday, was able to walk away from the wreck unharmed.
At approximately 2:30 p.m., Maurice Turner, a resident of Columbia Falls, was driving east on Highway 200, when his load of timber shifted while he was rounding a corner about six and a half miles east of Paradise near mile marker 89, flipping the semitrailer on its side and sending it sliding about 50 feet, according to Montana Highway Patrolman Keith Danhof.
Danhof said the 54-year-old driver of the Glacier Carriers' truck escaped the accident unharmed. “The seat belt probably kept him from having any significant injuries,” he said. Danhof said Turner was not exceeding the posted speed limit of 45 mph, but was driving too fast for the conditions. He said the accident was still under investigation and no citations have been written.
When the truck slid on its side it dumped its whole load of timber and came to rest across both lanes of the highway. Danhof said both lanes of traffic were completely stopped for about three hours as Schober's Towing cleared the scene. He said that the westbound traffic was rerouted to Highway 382 and the eastbound traffic was rerouted to Highway 135.
John Schober, owner of the St. Regis towing company, said his crew of nine people were able to clear one lane of traffic in about three hours and started letting traffic through then. He said it took the crew nearly six hours to clear the entire scene and open up both lanes of traffic.
Danhof said that the rollover occurred at what has become to be known as the Perma Curves, although a “few old-timers would argue the real Perma Curves are east of there.” He said that the corner where the truck tipped over is one of the two corners of the Perma Curves that causes the most accidents. “That's one of the corners we typically have accidents at,” said Danhof. He said he hates to even hazard a guess at how many accidents occur at that corner, but said it happens at least once a year.
Schober, who took two flag vehicles, a wrecker, a tractor-trailer, a forklift and flatbed trailer to clean up the scene, said that wasn't the first time he's been called to the Perma Curves. “We have had quite a few there,” he said. Schober said in the past couple of years he's been called up to the Perma Curves for two trucks carrying lumber, a cattle truck and a truck from Washington carrying crab.