(Spirit Lake)– A crash Thursday on involving a semi that was hauling grain resulted in a portion of Highway 86 between Highway 9 and the Minnesota border being shut down for awhile.
The Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office says 51-year-old Mark Burns of Estherville was driving a 2007 Freightliner semi owned by New Fashion Pork of Estherville. Deputies say Burns was distracted by something inside the truck causing the semi and its 27 ton load of feed to go onto the soft shoulder of the road. Authories say he then lost control when the trailer tires struck a field drive, sending the truck and trailer into the east ditch. Both units came to rest upside down.
The cab of the semi was destroyed and Burns had to be pulled from the wreckage through the broken out passenger door window. He was transported to Lakes Regional Healthcare in Spirit Lake with unknown injuries.
Authorities say Burns was alone in the semi.
Jennings Tow and Repair uprighted the truck and trailer. The grain was considered no longer usable. It was loaded into another trailer and hauled away.
Authorities say due to circumstances surrounding the crash, no citations were issued.
The Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Spirit Lake Police Department, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Department of Motor Vehicle Enforcement, Spirit Lake Fire and Rescue, Lakes Regional Healthcare ambulance and paramedics and the Iowa Department of Transportation Highway Department.
The crash took place around 11:45 a.m.
