An 18 wheeler that was dumping a load of gravel made contact with a utility line causing the truck to ignite and burn. This is as close as we were to allowed to get (while the truck was burning).
Truck Ignited by Power Line Burns, DALLARDSVILLE, July 18, 2016 - Shortly before 10 am on July 18, 2016, an 18 wheeler trailer dump truck driven by Jerry Fontineau, 49, of Kilgore, was dumping a load of gravel off FM-943 (a couple of miles east of FM-1276). The dump trailer (very tall when dumping) made contact with a power line. The power line arced and was shocking the truck. Fontineau was severely shocked but managed to escape the truck. The truck caught fire. South Polk County, Livingston, and Alabama Coushatta Fire Departments were dispatched to the scene along with Americare Ambulance Service, Deputy Josh Sanders with the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Trooper Allen Stanton with the Texas Highway Patrol and a crew and representatives from Sam Houston Electric Cooperative. The truck burned down to a charred engine block and half a trailer. Fontineau reportedly sustained an irregular heart beat from the severe shock and was transported to CHI Livingston Memorial Hospital. Other than Fontineau, there are no other reported injuries from the incident. All traffic on FM-942 was blocked during investigation and cleanup. A crew with heavy duty wreckers from Clifton Chevrolet out of Corrigan was dispatched to clean up the mess.
The truck that burned was almost identical to this one. This truck also had gravel to dump.
(L - R) Deputy Josh Sanders with the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Scott Ferguson with SHECO, Trooper Allen Stanton (in car) and Livingston Fire Chief, Corky Cochran.
All than remained was a burned engine block and half a trailer.
A crew from SHECO showed up to repair the damaged power line.
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