Jackson Brunetti said he has seen crashed dirt bikes before, but, "nothing crazy like a truck."Police Report

Eleven-year-old Jackson said he was standing in his garage when he saw a Nejame & Sons' tanker truck hauling swimming pool water overturn and then land off the side of Butterfield Road last weekend.

He called the town's 911 center, which dispatched Newtown Hook & Ladder Volunteer Fire Company to the scene at 4:44 pm on Saturday, May 14.

Rob Manna, the fire company's chief engineer, said the truck driver, who was transported to Danbury Hospital in an ambulance, was "a little banged up."

The tanker truck, holding about 4,400 gallons of water, was removed from the scene by wrecker crews from Hilario's Service Center.

Jackson said he saw the driver hit the brakes and turn the steering wheel before going over the edge of the road.

"It appears he lost control coming down the hill," Mr Manna said.

Lynn Samuels stood in her driveway at 128 Hanover Road, watching the preparations for towing the truck away.

Ms Samuels recalled that once, when she was riding her horse on Butterfield Road, it almost went over the embankment, similar to what happened to the truck.

"That corner is a dangerous one,' she said, adding, "They need to [post] more precautionary signs."

According to a police report, at about 4:37 pm, trucker Macario Sari-Illescas, 41, of Danbury was driving a tractor-trailer tanker truck hauling swimming pool water eastward on the narrow, winding, hilly Butterfield Road.

The driver attempted to slow down as he approached a sharp right curve near 77 Butterfield Road by applying the brakes, but the vehicle did not slow because the brakes had failed, according to police.

Although Sari-Illescas sought to navigate that sharp turn, the truck crossed the road's center line and struck a utility pole, after which it overturned, landing on the driver's side and then sliding until it struck a tree on the westbound road shoulder, police said.

The multiple collisions caused extensive damage to the truck and trailer, police said.

Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps transported Sari-Illescas to Danbury Hospital for a medical evaluation, police said. Sari-Illescas was treated for injuries and released, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The truck is owned by Nejame & Sons, Inc, a Danbury-based swimming pool firm.

Police took no enforcement action. Officer Timothy Schoen investigated the accident.

Hook & Ladder Volunteer firefighters responded to the accident, which occurred on the section of Butterfield Road near its intersection with Hanover Road.

The accident caused the truck's water tank to burst, nearly emptying the tank of several thousand gallons of water.

A small amount of automotive fluids spilled from the truck, but firefighters contained those fluids, preventing them from entering a nearby stream, said Hook & Ladder Fire Chief Ray Corbo.

Mr Manna served as the incident commander for Hook & Ladder.

It required several hours of work by wrecker crews to remove the damaged truck from the accident scene, Chief Corbo said.