Highway 6 is closed in Gales Creek near mile post 42, just west of the Gales Creek Road and Wilson River Highway junction after a tree fell across the highway and a tanker truck hit the downed tree.
With the downed tree came several hundred feet of downed power lines, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue said, who noted that the tree had fallen near Dorman Pond (Side note: Dorman Pond will be stocked with 1,000 legal-size trout sometime between March 11 and March 15).
According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the driver of the tanker truck crashed into the already downed tree, receiving non life threatening injuries as a result.
“The truck is leaking fuel as a result of the crash,” the sheriff’s office said in a social media post.
Forest Grove Fire & Rescue said there was not yet an estimate on when the highway would reopen.
According to Portland General Electric, 279 Gales Creek area customers were without power starting at 3:53 a.m., marking the approximate time the tree fell.
The utility listed 7 a.m. as the initial estimated restoration, a preliminary estimate based on historic repair times, not actual on-the-ground data.
Story updated to note location near Dorman Pond.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
