A Dead River fuel truck rolled over on its side on Highland Road in Newcastle around 12:45 p.m. Friday resulting in a minor fuel spill but no injuries.
According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Mark Colby, 58, of Boothbay Harbor was traveling westbound on Highland Road, when he lost control of the 1997 Ford two-axle single unit truck he was operating due to icy road conditions.
The truck rolled over and came to rest on the passenger side. Colby was not injured.
The accident resulted in the leakage of approximately 30 gallons of Number Two heating fuel. According to Newcastle Fire Chief Clayton Huntley, the area was closed for roughly six hours while Newcastle firefighters cleaned up the hazardous material.
Huntley credited Colby’s quick thinking for limiting the damage. According to Huntley, Colby had serviced a couple houses on Highland Road and was coming downhill to the intersection with North Newcastle Road when the accident occurred.
“It looked like gravel, but it was icy underneath,” Huntley said.
Starting to slide, Colby intentionally stuck his driver side tire into the ditch, which resulted in the vehicle swinging around to the right and ultimately tipping over, Huntley said.
Huntley said Colby took the action he did in order to avoid sliding out into the road and possibly into the path of oncoming traffic,
“The driver did a real good job avoiding the road,” Huntley said.
The truck sustained an estimated $7000 in damage.
