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Spangler Area News

Coal truck rollover crash snarls traffic, leaves huge mess

A coal truck rollover crash in Cambria County caused a traffic backup for miles and left a big mess in its path.

The driver, Gregory Klett, walked away without a scratch. Klett, who has been a truck driver for 25 years, said, "I just tried to keep a hold of the truck, which I couldn't do."

The crash happened on Route 219 around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday when the coal truck blew a tire, flipped over and spilled its load across the highway.

"The steer tire blew, and it just threw me straight, and I tried. I had both hands on the wheel. I tried to keep it under control. It just threw me right into the barrier and just hooked the barrier and rode the barrier right down, and luckily it flipped over slow and not fast," Klett said.

The truck spilled coal onto the northbound lane, backing up traffic for miles and leaving a mess for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to clean up.

Larry Penatzer, assistant fire chief in Summerhill Borough, said, "They're cleaning the coal up. They're also going to be coming with sand to get the oil spill on the southbound side."

When crews arrived, Klett was still inside the truck, shaken up. Klett said, "We kicked the driver's window for me to get out through the window because we couldn't get the top door open."

Klett credits wearing his seat belt for saving his life and being very lucky. He said he is thankful that he didn't go over a cliff because the guardrails wouldn't have stopped the truck.

Penatzer said, "He's very lucky. That could have gone through the barrier into another vehicle."

Due to the magnitude of the mess, it took crews hours to clean it up and move the truck, at times closing both lanes of traffic.

_{Tue, 29 May 2012 12:34:33 -0400}

Severe weather risk increased for Tuesday

Severe Weather Team 6 meteorologists say a cold front increases the chance of severe weather on Tuesday.

"As a result of this pattern setting up, the Storm Prediction Center has put much of Pennsylvania under an enhanced risk for severe thunderstorm development Tuesday afternoon and evening," said meteorologist Josh Fosbrink. "The primary threats from any storms that do develop would be for large hail and damaging winds."

A very warm and muggy pattern was in place across the region for much of the Memorial Day weekend. That pattern will be coming to an end it appears later Tuesday afternoon as a strong cold front plows across the Ohio Valley and Pennsylvania.

Over the weekend, this cold front was responsible for numerous severe thunderstorms across the central Plains and Midwest. The storms that have popped up this weekend locally, have developed as a result of the air mass over the 6 News viewing area becoming unstable during the heating of the day.

"When you add another trigger to the mix such as a cold front, there is an even greater threat for convective development such as thunderstorms," Fosbrink says.

Once this cold front moves through, much cooler air will take hold for the rest of the week with highs in the 60s towards Friday.

Stay with Severe Weather Team 6, WJATV.com and WJACTV.com Mobile for continuing coverage.

_{Tue, 29 May 2012 10:49:11 -0400}

Fire rips through garage, scorches owner's classic cars

A fire tore through a detached garage near Geistown Monday afternoon.

The homeowner told 6News that it's not the loss of the garage he's upset about, but what was inside. 

Just after 3 p.m. Monday, black smoke was filling the sky.

Crews said the fire was heavily involved by the time they got to the garage on Kinzey Street.

"And our main concern was controlling the exposures with the homes on either side," Richland Battalion Fire Chief Bob Heffelfinger said.

The heat melted much of the siding on the back of the house within minutes.

The owner said it even blew out some windows.

It came as a harsh realization when he said he was in the garage not two hours earlier.

"Upon his arrival, he advised us of the unfortunate situation with some classic automobiles in his garage and he was quite upset with the loss," Heffelfinger said.

Luckily, no one was hurt, but the owner said the fire gutted his a Lincoln, '70 Challenger and '65 Mustang which he's had for nearly 40 years.

A Harley and Yamaha were also destroyed in the fire.

The owner said he's mourning the loss as if it was the loss of a family dog. 

However, the turnout from Richland, Windber and Oakland kept it from doing much more damage.

"We were very lucky today. In fact, we have a lot of fellas out of town on vacation, so, to have the type of response we had out of Richland was phenomenal, and we got a great response from Windber as our rapid intervention team, and from Oakland, as well. "

As of Monday night, there was still no word on what caused the fire.

The Fire Marshal should be back on scene Tuesday. 

_{Mon, 28 May 2012 23:43:26 -0400}

News Source: MedleyStory More Local News Stories