Truck down 200-foot cliff

Photo: Google Maps

A semi-truck driver is lucky to be alive after his truck lost control Wednesday evening, and careened down a 150-foot cliff.

The 67-year-old Penticton man was driving along Hwy. 97 approximately two-kilometres south of the Schweb's Bridge, north of the intersection with Westside Road when he lost control, struck a hydro pole and drove over the bank.

“He went down a good 150-feet over the bank off the highway,” says Jack Blair, Deputy Chief of Vernon Fire Rescue. He was told the driver of the tractor-trailer unit swerved to avoid an animal.

When fire arrived on the scene about 7 p.m. the lone occupant and driver was still in the cab of the truck down the bank.

“It was quite a steep embankment, so we had to set up a bit of a rope system that we use for doing over the bank rescues and triage of patients,” says Blair. “The guys had to set up a three-in-one rope rescue system and were able to get over the bank and into the cab of the truck.”

Once in the truck, Blair says they did an assessment of the patient and tried to determine the extent of his injuries.

The driver was alert and speaking, according to Blair, with non life-threatening injuries. Fire was able to get the man safely up to the highway where he was taken to Vernon Jubilee Hospital.

“He was very, very fortunate actually to even be alive,” says Blair who notes that the man's truck struck a power pole, snapping the pole in half, before going over the bank. Fortunately, no power lines came down at the time.

In fact Blair says the man was so far down the bank and out of sight, he is lucky someone saw him go off the road.

“Otherwise, he could have been there for a long long time, before anyone realized there was even a truck down there,” says Blair who adds that by the time his company realized he was missing and sent out drivers to look for him, he was already in hospital receiving care.

The next day, crews were on the scene removing the product from the trailer and working to lift the unit back up to the highway. Fortunately the truck was not carrying any hazardous materials.

RCMP were on the scene investigating the cause of the crash and BC Hydro was called to repair the pole. Power was out for more than 140 homes in the area until early Thursday morning.