Garbage truck sinks into Puget Sound, driver uninjured

Posted

Marsha Hart, KP News

Rescue divers arrived on the scene and assisted the tow company in attaching cables to the garbage truck to remove it from the water. Photo courtesy Chuck West.

Tide was almost high at about 10:50 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 11 when a garbage truck and the driver plunged into the waters of Puget Sound near Home bridge. Key Peninsula Fire Department 16 received the call, and arrived to find that the driver was able to get out of the truck on his own, uninjured.

Division Chief Chuck West said the driver stood on a resident’s porch wrapped in a towel, and watched as the truck was pulled from the water.

The driver reported that while on his garbage pickup route, he experienced trouble with the brakes on the truck, and was unable to stop on 4th Ave. KPN near the Home bridge. The truck came down the hill at a high rate of speed, and several residents watched as the truck went air born and landed in the bay.

FD 16 assisted the tow company in attaching cables to the truck in order to remove it from the water.

According to an FD 16 report, the Department of Ecology is investigating along with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.

The investigation will include a cause for the accident, and whether hazardous materials were released into the waters of Puget Sound.


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