Car crushed as silo falls from truck

VANCOUVER, Wash. – At this rate, Cindy Werner just shouldn’t own a Subaru.

Werner’s 2004 Subaru Outback was crushed on Friday when a 44,000-pound metal silo came tumbling off a tractor-trailer truck, down an embankment and landed on Werner’s car along Southeast 23rd Street in this city just across the Columbia River from Portland, Ore.

Werner had been out on a bike ride, and came back to find the damage to her car. She told Portland television station KATU that it was the second Subaru she’d lost in six months. Her other car had been stolen and burned.

According to the Washington State Patrol, the tractor-trailer hauling the silo was driving on the Interstate 205 exit from eastbound state Highway 14. The silo wiggled loose, rolling about 50 feet on the shoulder before breaking through the guard rail.

The silo then tumbled end over end down a 35-foot embankment – tearing out phone lines along the way – before crushing Werner’s car.

Officials at the scene believe the silo falling end over end instead of rolling likely prevented it from crashing into nearby homes.

The driver of the truck was cited for failure to secure his load. A crane was brought in to lift the silo off Werner’s car and clear the roadway.

Associated Press

Workers look at a 44,000-pound metal silo that rolled off a truck and down an embankment on the I-205 ramp from eastbound state Highway 14 in Vancover, Wash., on Friday.