An accident involving two trucks after 5 am on Thursday, October 3, on westbound Interstate 84, about one mile west of Exit 9, caused extensive travel delays on westbound I-84 and adjacent local roads during the morning rush.

Initially reported as having occurred on westbound I-84 between Exits 10 and 9, the call resulted in Newtown Hook & Ladder and Hawleyville volunteer firefighters responding to the incident. Hook & Ladder Chief Ray Corbo served as incident commander.

Hawleyville Fire Chief John Basso said that a middle-age male driver of a panel truck apparently was parked on the road shoulder after having hit a deer.

In attempting to avoid some additional deer, the tractor-trailer truck driver then swerved, but struck the rear end of the parked panel truck, pushing the panel truck up onto an embankment alongside the road. The impact lifted the panel truck about five feet off the ground.

Firefighters stabilized the panel truck and extricated its unidentified driver from the vehicle, after which Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps members transported him to Danbury Hospital for treatment. The driver, who was conscious and alert as the extrication occurred, reportedly was not seriously injured.

The tractor-trailer truck driver was not injured.

Besides westbound I-84 traffic backups, which extended into Southbury, the incident caused extensive traffic tie-ups on local roads during the morning rush, as well as some secondary, minor accidents. Westbound traffic was still very slow on the highway and through the center of town four hours after the accident occured. 

State police did not immediately have details on the incident.