Semi crash closes Spanish Fork Canyon

SPANISH FORK CANYON — Spanish Fork Canyon was closed for about 30 minutes Friday while wreckers removed a semi-trailer truck that rolled off the road and into a riverbed.

The accident on U.S. 6 happened shortly after 4 p.m. Friday at mile marker 203, about 7 miles west of the summit. Troopers say speed was not a factor.

"As the truck came around a corner, the load shifted," said Derek Jensen, a spokesman for the Utah Department of Public Safety. "That caused the trailer to slide off the road, and it made the truck jackknife. Then trailer pulled the cab down into the river, and it landed upside down."

The driver, Thomas Edward Christians, 52, of Iowa, was cited for failure to secure the load, Jensen said.

Jensen said Christians was trapped in the semi for about four minutes, but passing motorists were able to cut his seat belt and free him. He suffered minor injuries, but refused medical treatment at the scene.

Diesel fuel may have spilled into the river after the truck rolled over, Jensen said.

Crews cleaned up the cargo and contacted local watershed agencies to warn them of the possible river contamination.

The truck was hauling plastic water pipes on a flatbed trailer.

Friday's incident was the third time in a month that a portion of U.S. 6 has been closed because of an accident. On Nov. 10, a fatal crash occurred near Thistle when a driver lost control of his vehicle and collided head-on with a semi. sem-truck.

The next day, two semi-trailer trucks collided near Colton, killing both drivers.