Overturned Colorado Semi Spills Load of Sweet Corn; Firefighters, Sheriff’s Office Distribute Crop to Residents
A tractor-trailer overturned on Highway 69 near Hillside, dumping a load of sweet corn onto the roadway; crews and volunteers directed traffic and handed out the recovered corn to the community.
A semi-truck hauling sweet corn overturned on Highway 69 near Hillside in Custer County in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, spilling its cargo across the roadway and prompting a multiagency response that included traffic control and redistribution of the crop to local residents.
The Custer County Sheriff's Office said the crash occurred at around 2 a.m. The driver escaped the wreck unharmed. Emergency crews worked at the scene to clear the highway and manage traffic while salvage efforts moved the spilled corn to a nearby fire station.
Loads of the recovered sweet corn were taken to the Wet Mountain Fire Protection District, where the fire department and sheriff's office made the produce available free to local residents. In a statement, the sheriff's office wrote: "An earful of morning news...members of the community can pick up sweet corn at the fire station on the northwest corner. Fire fighter volunteers and posse will be on scene to assist."
At the crash site, crews routed traffic around the overturned vehicle while cleanup and recovery continued. The Custer County Sheriff's Office said volunteer firefighters rotated at the scene for the past 17 hours to direct traffic through the emergency area, and deputies remained on site during operations.
Authorities did not report hazardous-materials concerns tied to the load; the response focused on clearing the roadway, protecting public safety and salvaging the perishable cargo. Officials said the redistributed corn provided a local resource following the accident rather than being left to spoil at the roadside.
Traffic incidents involving agricultural cargoes can create immediate road safety hazards and complicate cleanup because of scattered goods, equipment needs and wildlife attraction. In this case, local emergency services coordinated with community volunteers to manage those risks and to move salvageable food to the fire station for distribution.
No injuries were reported beyond the driver, and cleanup continued until crews had cleared the roadway and completed moving recoverable cargo to the Wet Mountain Fire Protection District. The sheriff's office and the fire protection district handled distribution logistics and assisted residents who came to pick up corn.
The incident highlighted both the operational challenges of transporting bulk agricultural products on rural highways and the role of local emergency services and volunteers in responding to accidents and redirecting recoverable food supplies back to the community.