A crew uses a crane to right an overturned semi trailer. The semi carrying some 1,500 cases of Okanagan Spring 1516 beer took a spill on Highway 97 near Falkland during the snowstorm, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014.
Image Credit: Contributed/Chris Leyland
November 29, 2014 - 10:43 AM
FALKLAND - A semi carrying some 1,500 cases of Okanagan Spring 1516 beer took a spill during Wednesday’s snowstorm.
Garry Higginson, with HTL Transport, says his son, 24, was driving the tractor-trailer along Highway 97 through Falkland in a blizzard when he saw an oncoming vehicle driving in the middle of the road. His son steered the truck over to the edge to avoid hitting it, a wheel caught the ditch and the semi toppled over.
“The only other option was to stay the course and hit the car,” Higginson says. “He did everything you could do.”
While a bit sore and shaken, his son walked away without serious injuries.
As for the beer? A crew showed up within a couple hours to guard it, after which roughly 60 per cent was salvaged, and the remainder tossed.
“Had you picked through it you might have had a pretty good party,” he says.
But before you start thinking the Higginsons made off with a few cases of beer with which to soothe their nerves, flush that thought.
“We definitely don’t get to keep any of it,” Higginson says.
For a small, local business, Higginson says the down time and damage to the truck and trailer is terrible news.
“I’m not laughing at all,” he says.
But there was one good thing to come out of it all.
“Lots of people stopped to check on the driver,” Higginson says. “People would stop, turn around and come back.’’
Credit: Contributed/Chris Leyland
To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
— This story was updated at 12:26 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014 to add a new image and a video.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014