Multiple people died and others were injured in a series of crashes that took place in the area earlier this week.
A 23-year-old New York man was killed after the semi he was driving went off the side of U.S. 160 on Wolf Creek Pass.
According to a press release, at approximately 8:21 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 3, the Colorado State Patrol (CSP) responded to a crash involving a single commercial motor vehicle that went off the side of the highway and down the mountainside on U.S. 160, 17 miles north of Pagosa Springs, before the scenic overlook.
The press release notes a 2020 Freightliner, hauling a trailer with canned drinks, was southbound on U.S. 160 near milepost 161.
“The Freightliner hit the barrier wall on the right side and bounced off. The semi rolled through the guardrail on the left side of the roadway down a steep embankment. Both the cab and trailer were destroyed rolling down the mountain,” it states.
The driver, a 23-year-old male from New York, was not immediately located amid the large debris scene down the mountain, according to the release. He was later found and was pronounced dead; it was confirmed that he had been ejected from the cab.
The semi’s trailer split open prior to rolling down the side of the mountain and spilled its cargo on the roadway, according to the CSP. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) used a plow to clear the roadway of the cargo and debris.
The release notes the initial investigation revealed that the semi was traveling at an excessive speed, with smoke coming from the brakes, and that the driver failed to take the runaway truck ramp 1.5 miles before the crash.
An extended recovery is expected as crews work to recover the semi and trailer. The Colorado State Patrol Vehicular Crimes Unit will be handling the investigation. CDOT and the Colorado State Patrol Hazmat Unit assisted with cleanup.
The driver’s name was not immediately released.
A second crash involving a different semi occurred later that morning west of Pagosa Springs.
According to Sgt. Ivan Alvarado with the CSP, a call came in at 10:56 a.m. for a crash on U.S. 160 at mile marker 134, Oakridge Road.
That crash, he explains in an email to The SUN, involved a 2023 Ford Maverick versus a 2023 Peterbilt semi.
“The semi veered off and hit a house,” Alvarado explains, adding three people were trapped and then transported for medical care.
He notes there were no reports of serious injuries.
A third vehicle that was parked, a Jeep, was hit with debris, he adds.
On Tuesday, Nov. 4, another vehicle crash claimed the life of an Arboles man.
According to an email from CSP Trooper Hunter Mathews, the crash occurred on eastbound U.S. 160 near milepost 117 at about 6:25 p.m. on Nov. 4.
He notes “involved a single vehicle that traveled about 150 feet off the right shoulder of the roadway and rolled an unknown number of times.”
The driver, he explains, was a 45-year-old male from Arboles who was ejected from the vehicle during the rolling and was pronounced deceased on scene.
Mathews notes the incident remains under investigation and no other information was available as of Wednesday morning, Nov. 5.
randi@pagosasun.com
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