WAGONTIRE, Ore. — Until the molasses truck wrecked, nobody got stuck in traffic around Wagontire.
Then, on Thursday, a trucker crashed and spilled hundreds of gallons of gooey livestock feed onto U.S. 395 in Eastern Oregon’s outback.
The State Police closed the highway for three hours, then intermittently for hours afterward as workers moved the rig out of the way and shoveled gravel into the molasses to make a better roadbed.
“It’s a sticky mess,” Sgt. Brian Williams said Friday.
The highway carries a lot of through-traffic, such as truckers. But there aren’t enough locals to cause a jam.
Wagontire, located 10 miles south of the crash site, has varied in population in recent years from zero to two as proprietors moved in and out of a truck stop and cafe. And that’s the only population for miles.
“You can’t get any closer to the middle of nowhere,” Williams said.
Cheryl James and her husband, Robert, took over the Wagontire Cafe in the summer and opened for business a few weeks ago.
She said she turned back rather than brave a drive through the molasses spot.
Worse, she said, was the stench, which reminded her of corn left too long in the refrigerator, “and then you open the drawer and say, ‘Oh, my God.’ “
Williams said the molasses was being taken from Twin Falls, Idaho, to Lakeview, Ore.
Police say they cited the trucker, 22-year-old Julio Cesar Gil-Juarez of Twin Falls, for careless driving.
The police say he swerved to avoid deer on the highway and crashed. He and a female passenger were treated for minor injuries.
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