On Friday, April 15 around 1:35 p.m., a collision of a power pole and a semi-truck on S. Duval St. caused damage to both city property and the semi-truck.
Kenneth McQuay, 41, of Lee, was driving his 2000 Mack semi-truck north on Duval St. near the intersection of Rutledge St., when, for reasons that are still unknown, the driver reported that his vehicle’s engine stalled. McQuay stated that the vehicle began to roll backwards. Attempting to stop the backwards progress of his truck by applying the brake, McQuay discovered that the brakes were also not working.
Continuing to roll backwards, heading south, the vehicle’s trailer began to jackknife and the back right axle of the trailer collided with a wooden utility pole alongside the road, where the truck finally stopped.
The collision caused the wood pole to splinter and break in half approximately 10 ft. from the ground.
The pole was supporting three high voltage wires and after the pole splintered and broke, some of the lines became dislodged and rested on the truck.
McQuay was, however, able to safely exit his vehicle and stand at a safe distance from the crash scene.
The scene was secured and traffic was diverted from the area until Duke Energy could arrive to repair the damage and safely secure the fallen lines.
Once the scene was secured, Ben’s Towing responded and removed the truck from the scene. It was advised that the vehicle would be placed on hold until it could be properly inspected in order to find possible mechanical defects that caused the semi-truck to shut off and what rendered the brakes useless.
The investigation has not been completed and the mechanical inspection of the truck is still pending.
McQuay insisted he had not sustained any injuries and refused medical attention.
The wreck took place at 1:35 p.m., but the scene was not cleared until 5:30 p.m.
The truck was owned by Get Her Done Hauling and was transporting cut logs.