Evening rush traffic encountered travel delays and detours in Sandy Hook following a one-vehicle accident late Tuesday afternoon, in which a commercial truck vaulted off Berkshire Road (Route 34) and damaged electrical equipment before landing at the base of a steep slope near a stream.

The incident near 98 Berkshire Road caused power outages in that area.

Eversource spokesman Mitch Gross said that 143 electric customers in the area lost power after the 4:23 pm accident. By rerouting electric service, electricity was restored by 6:05 pm, he said.

Police said Thomas O. McKenna, 62, of Southbury was driving a 2015 Ford F-550 East Coast Welding truck westward on Berkshire Road. Although the road curved to the right, the truck drove straight ahead, crossed the eastbound lane, hit some curbing, struck an embankment, and then smashed into a Frontier Communications utility pole, after which the vehicle hit multiple trees and drove down a steep embankment, coming to rest against a tree, police said.

The driver told police that he had looked away for a second before the accident occurred.

Passenger Thomas C. McKenna, 30, of Southbury told police that he had been asleep in the passenger seat and then woke up to a loud bang.

The driver had minor cuts and the passenger was uninjured, police said. Both men had been wearing seatbelts, police said. Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps went to the scene.

Police issued the driver an infraction for failure to drive to the right on a curve.

Traffic in the area was disrupted for hours after the crash due to the complexity of repairing the electrical damage and also removing the damaged truck from the base of the slope. A specialized wrecker with a crane arm was used to pluck the vehicle from the base of the slope.

After the crash, police detoured westbound traffic on Berkshire Road to Bennetts Bridge Road, Jeremiah Road, and Pole Bridge Road before it reentered Berkshire Road.

Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company Assistant Chief Anthony Capozziello served as incident commander.

Asst Chief Capozziello said that firefighters responded to the scene in three fire vehicles. Besides controlling a small automotive fluid spill, they performed traffic control, provided nighttime illumination and helped unload the contents of the welding truck so that it could removed from the crash site, he said. During the later stages of the accident cleanup, eastbound traffic was detoured from Berkshire Road to Sherman Street and to Old Mill Road before reentering Berkshire Road, he said.

Firefighters spent about five hours at the scene, Asst Chief Capozziello said.