Milk spilled after tanker truck crash in east Petaluma blocks Adobe Road
RANDI ROSSMANN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | June 13, 2016, 7:29AM
An overturned tractor-trailer rig weighed down with a load of milk blocked an east Petaluma, CA commute route for more than seven hours Monday, according to authorities.
Tow trucks removed the vehicle and opened Adobe Road at about 12:30 p.m., after crews transferred about 4,800 gallons of milk to another tanker.
The crash happened at 5:15 a.m. as a driver for Moga Trucking had just started his milk delivery from nearby Corona Road to a facility in Willows. Heading east on Adobe Road, near the intersection with Corona Road, the tractor and tanker trailer left the roadway, went into a ditch and toppled onto its right side, the CHP said.
The uninjured driver initially was trapped. A passerby found him hanging from his seatbelt on the high side. The passerby pulled out the broken windshield and got the man out of his belt, Rancho Adobe Battalion Chief Herb Wandel.
Hundreds of gallons of milk leaked from the overturned tanker but the spill was contained and not a serious issue, Wandel said.
Adobe Road runs along the far eastern edge of Petaluma and is a busy commute alternative to Highway 101. The crash blocked the eastbound lane and for the first two hours the westbound lane remained open. At about 7:20 a.m., officials closed both directions between Corona and Lynch roads as efforts began to try and right the rig.