Grain truck crashes into canal

COLFAX - A grain truck coming down East Canyon Street from the direction of Palouse crashed into the Colfax canal, passing Greg's Electrical, 202 South Main Street, on the morning of Wednesday, July 12.

Colfax Police Chief Bruce Blood confirmed that the driver was Kevin Llamas, 22, of Mesa, Washington, and broke his right wrist.

Blood stated that one of the brakes on the truck was completely inoperable, and the other three were out of adjustment, so they wouldn't press against the brake drum when the driver pushed it.

He explained that a third of the brakes were not operational or usable, "he only had about 66 percent of his normal braking power if all 12 brakes were working," Blood said.

Blood stated that one witness had said the truck was going around 50 mph, which Blood estimated 40 to 50 miles an hour when Llamas went through the intersection at main street seems about right.

Blood confirmed that to get the trailer out, they had to cut it up and pull it out in pieces because of the structural damage to the truck.

Towing company Divine's Northside Towing, located in Spokane, finished removing the truck on the evening of Wednesday, July 12

Safety Fleet Manager for Divine's Towing Joseph Arlt stated they had left to remove the semi from the canal at 9:30 a.m. and returned around 10:30 p.m., so the process took around 13 hours to complete.

Arlt stated that because of how mangled the trailer was, the integrity was compromised on one side, so they had to cut it by the tires and bring it up separately.

"Then we were able to cut the rest of the trailer into smaller pieces and bring it up piece by piece," Arlt said, adding that they brought the tractor up and out first, suspending it from the rear to bring it up vertically.

"The truck was hanging up and down," he said, "We were able to get another chain and wench on it and bring it up and out of the canal."

Arlt explained that they had to chain the engine down because it was not connected anymore.

"We were worried that the engine was going to fall out, but we were able to secure it enough, so it stayed in," he said.

Arlt stated that this was the first truck in a canal that he's had to experience removing, but as for major semi-truck accidents, that was the third one the towing truck company had dealt with that week. "We do deal with them a lot," he said.

Arlt said he was surprised that the driver could survive, "that was a long drop, and what I heard the speeds he was going," he said, adding that it was insane to imagine.

Blood confirmed that it wasn't just Llamas who was lucky; a pickup had just turned at the light before the semi came down the hill.

"It was an unbelievable coincidence," Blood said, "We were extremely lucky."