Train traffic is stopped at Floral Street in Centralia after a dump truck struck a train.
Updated at 10:04 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CENTRALIA – Police are searching for the driver of a large dump truck that collided with a train earlier this evening in Centralia.
When police arrived at the crossing on Floral Street between South Gold and South Tower Avenue, the light blue truck sat in the middle of the tracks, its front end smashed.
Neighbor Michael Nichols said he didn’t see it happen but heard it.
“Big boom and it shook my house,” Nichols said.
Officers walked along the tracks and contacted a northbound train that was no longer in sight, Nichols and his neighbor Andrey Puris said.
They had another train back up to just south of the scene, the men said.
It appeared the driver got out and left on foot, Centralia Police Sgt. Brian Warren said.
There wasn’t blood or enough damage on the train to suggest the driver had been dragged away, according to Warren.
A spokesperson for BNSF said the truck struck the side of a freight train hauling soybeans from Vancouver to Seattle, rupturing one car and spilling soybeans.
Spokesperson Gus Melonas said it happened shortly after 6 p.m. and he was told the dump truck’s brakes locked up.
Several trains were delayed, he said.
One track opened up about 7 p.m. and the adjacent track is expected to reopen about 10:30 p.m., Melonas said.
BNSF crews are investigating and inspecting their equipment, he said.
A crossing arm on the west side of Floral Street was bent forward as though it had been hit.
“There you can see, he ran through the gate,” Nichols said.
Officer Warren said the truck is registered in Thurston County and police were attempting to reach its owner.
Centralia Police Department Officer Angie Humphrey at Floral Street / Courtesy photo from Matthew Kramer
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter