(Idanha-Detroit Rural Fire Protection District/Facebook)
A semi-truck crashed into the North Santiam River near Marion Forks Monday morning.
Around 7:20 a.m., the Idanha–Detroit Rural Fire Protection District responded to a semi-truck wreck on Highway 22 near Milepost 71, the district said in a Facebook post Monday. The driver of the truck, which had two box trailers, drove off the highway and crashed into the Santiam River.
“The driver was able to exit the cab on his own accord, and made it across the swift and strong river with the help of a couple firefighters, some good samaritans, and a rope,” the district said.
He was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
The crash was above Detroit Reservoir more than 26 miles upstream from the intake to Salem’s drinking water treatment facility at Geren Island, the city of Salem wrote on Facebook.
The city said there is no threat to Salem’s drinking water due to the crash’s location and the semi-truck’s fuel tanks weighing 150 gallons to 300 gallons total. Water is still safe to drink for residents, the city said.
-Ardeshir Tabrizian
