©2009 NPT PHOTO BY DUAY O'NEIL

Large rolls of cling wrap spilled from this tractor-trailer rig early Friday morning after its driver
lost control of the vehicle on the narrow Green Corner Road in Hartford. The driver, identified
as Luis Rivera, was transported to Baptist Hospital of Cocke County, where he was treated and
released.

HARTFORD-The driver of a tractor-trailer rig, identified by Cocke County Sheriff Department personnel as Luis Rivera, was transported to Baptist Hospital of Cocke County early this morning after his vehicle wrecked on Green Corner Road.

The accident occurred in front of the Steve Moore home, 3644 Green Corner Road, approximately seven and one-half miles from the Hartford exit off I-40.

According to Moore, residents of the area were awakened by the crash at 5 a.m.

"I knew somebody had wrecked, but at first I didn't know it was a trailer," Moore said Friday morning. "I looked out and could see a light from the truck's cab. Then I saw the driver climb out and start up the bank to the road using a flashlight. I called 911 and then I called my mom who lives next door."

Moore described the sound of the crash as like that of an explosion. "People felt the vibrations a quarter of a mile away," Moore said.

Moore and others said the driver's injuries included a "nasty cut" on his head.

The driver apparently had exited I-40 at Hartford and was reportedly following instructions supplied by a GPS system in an effort to bypass the rockslide blocking the interstate when the accident occurred.

The cab and trailer rolled off the road and down a bank in front of Moore's home.

"The wreck busted the top and sides of the trailer," said Moore.

The trailer was loaded with large rolls of cling wrap weighing approximately 150 pounds each. These spilled out of the wreckage onto the ground. Reportedly the driver was transporting the wrap to a Campbell's Soup factory.

R. L. Leatherwood, owner of Hartford Towing, and several employees first removed the cab. They returned to the wreck site later Friday morning to begin removing the trailer.

Among those working to clear the site were Matthew Raines, Shane Hawk, Justin Hall, Shane Davis, and Roger Earl Grooms.

Leatherwood said that this was at least the sixth tractor-trailer rig to try to bypass the slide by going through the mountains.

"We got one off Tobe's Creek, two off Black Mountain, and one actually came up Grindstaff Road," he said. "This makes the third one to get on Green Corner Road."

Moore and Leatherwood pointed out that even if vehicles do make it through the Green Corner route, they will return to the interstate below the rock slide.

GPS tracking systems apparently are still routing vehicles through the Hartford-Grassy Fork roads.

At Downtown Hartford Citgo, numerous travelers were seeking help Friday morning. A clerk told one driver, "When you get to Newport and turn onto 25-70, turn off your GPS! If you don't, when you get to Del Rio, it will route you back across the mountain and you'll wind up back here!"