Meigs truck wreck cuts cable, phone lines; driver injured

DECATUR, Tenn. — It took several hours to restore telephone and television service to residents in parts of Meigs County on Wednesday after a truck careened off state Route 30 and plowed through the lines.

Authorities said North Star Trucking driver Patrick James was slightly injured in the 7:30 a.m. accident. He was treated and released from the Rhea County Medical Center, Meigs County Emergency Management Agency Director Tony Finnell said.

Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Ben Harrison said Mr. James lost control of the tractor-trailer between Decatur and the Tennessee River Bridge.

He said the truck went off the right shoulder and slid several hundred feet along a drainage ditch, then skidded down a slope into a ravine.

“He wasn’t driving the truck, it was driving him,” Mr. Finnell said.

He said the driver had been on his way to make a delivery to a Krystal restaurant in Rhea County.

Traffic was delayed at the site while wreckers pulled the truck out of the ravine and back onto the shoulder. The trailer was intact, but the underside of the truck and axle suffered major damage, Mr. Finnell said.

The impact caused a leak, and about 200 gallons of diesel fuel escaped, but the spill was contained and a hazardous materials team called from Chattanooga to clean the spill, Mr. Finnell said.

Telephone and cable crews repaired the lines after the truck was removed. No representatives of phone or cable companies could be reached Wednesday afternoon.