In this incident, Team Pro-Enviro and Team Pro-Tow responded to an emergency call from Washington State Police 911 dispatch about a trailer that had broken apart a firework stand and was blocking lanes on SR18 near Covington, WA. Screws, plywood, roofing materials and various debris were littered across the shoulder and all lanes. Both divisions responded quickly to clear and reopen this busy roadway.
We arrived at the scene with specialized equipment to handle this semi-truck accident. Pro-Enviro arrived with an emergency spill response vehicle carrying various specialized cleanup supplies and equipment. Working together with incident command, Washington State Patrol, Washington State Department of Transportation and tow/cleanup operators, we created a traffic management plan and cleanup plan. Our goal was to minimize lane closure while keeping our team and crew safe during the semi-truck spill recovery.
Cleaning Up the Debris
We cleaned various debris from what remained of the frame of the trailer after the semi-truck accident in order to allow the owner to leave the area together with his daughter, who was also on board. We then began extensive cleanup of the semi-truck spill recovery which included large debris and the process of hand sweeping, machine sweeping and hand retrieval of all the screws and small debris.
We focused on cleaning up the shoulder and exit as quickly as possible, as during this time all lanes were closed. After this extensive process, we met with incident command to alternate between lane closure and opening. This way we could safely allow some traffic through, while our team could safely clean the closed lanes. We continued with the semi-truck spill recovery cleaning process, moving from the left-hand shoulder, the second lane and finally the median.
Moving Debris to the Storage Yard
With the cleanup finished, we were able to move all units safely to the off-ramp shoulder and reopen the busy lanes. Pro-Enviro then finished loading all the equipment and safely tied down the extensive debris to safely transport it to a secured storage yard.
