LEBEC, CA (Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011 at approximately 2:20 p.m.)—This report has been released by the Kern County Fire Department.
The Kern County Fire Department received a report of a big rig vehicle accident on Northbound I-5 north of the Fort Tejon on ramp. Approximately 10 firefighters from the Kern County Fire Department with assistance from CHP responded to the incident.

Upon arrival, fire crews were faced with an oversize load semi tractor trailer with a large compressor assembly weighing approximately 130,000 lbs. that had lost control, hitting another big rig at a high rate of speed landing the wide load trailer on the freeway shoulder. The tractor section of the big rig jack-knifed in the middle of lanes, ending up resting on the median safety wall, starting a one acre grass fire in the median vegetation. One driver received minor injuries and refused treatment and transport to the hospital. Several lanes of the freeway were closed for a few hours while large cranes were being brought in to move the vehicles.

Total damage is estimated at $100,000 to the wide load vehicles trailer. There were no other reported injuries and the accident is under investigation by the CHP.

This is part of the September 16, 2011 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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