Route 30 closed for nine hours Saturday afternoon just a mile east of the Franklin/Adams county line when a car collided head-on with a tractor trailer hauling 40,000 pounds of applesauce heading for Florida.
The truck spilled 200 gallons of diesel fuel into a nearby marshy area owned by the Village of Laurel Run.
The driver of the car, Justin Pyatt, 20, was flown to York Hospital via Life Lion helicopter and was listed in critical condition Sunday. He had been trapped in his 1994 Acura, and was extricated by crews from Buchanan Valley and Fayetteville fire departments.
His passenger, John Boughner, 18, of Chambersburg, and tractor trailer driver Jimmy Perdue, of Middleburg, Fla., were both treated and released from Chambersburg Hospital.
Both lanes of Route 30 were closed, and traffic was routed by way of Shippensburg Road — a nearly 25-mile detour. The road wasn’t reopened completely until shortly after midnight.
According to state police, at about 3 p.m., Pyatt was seen heading east on Route 30, illegally passing other vehicles. He then lost control and went into the westbound lane. The Acura’s driver’s side front end collided head-on into the tractor trailer.
After impact, the Acura traveled about 65 feet and stopped in the eastbound lane.
The rig went off the north side of the road and rolled onto its passenger side.
All the applesauce had to be unloaded by hand before Dave’s Truck Repair of Chambersburg was able to pull the truck out.
The truck had just left an apple plant in Biglerville and was on its way to Florida.
The diesel fuel spilled into Carbaugh Run, a swampy area along the highway.
Crews from Harrisburg and Adams County worked until 6 a.m. cleaning up the mess, according to Michael Spielman, deputy chief of Buchanan Valley Fire Department.
Crews will return this morning to finish the clean-up.
An ambulance crew from South Mountain Fire Department also responded.