A tractor-trailer truck, which was hauling a load of tires on the Exit 11 off-ramp of Interstate 84 mid-day on Tuesday, December 15, flipped over and landed on its left side near the end of that ramp where the roadway curves sharply to the right, near Wasserman Way.

There were two men in the truck’s cab when the rollover accident occurred.

About 20 volunteer firefighters from the Sandy Hook and Newtown Hook & Ladder fire companies responded to the accident, in which one of the men was trapped within the vehicle.

It required about one hour’s work to extricate him from the heavily-damaged vehicle.

Numerous state police responded to the accident, in which the tractor-tractor truck landed on the Exit 11 interchange’s grassy median. The cargo did not spill from the trailer. There was no apparent fuel spill due to the crash.

State police closed the Exit 11 off-ramp to traffic about 100 yards north of the accident scene and rerouted vehicles traveling on the off-ramp via a U-turn across the median to the interchange’s on-ramp. That maneuver allowed motorists to either get back onto eastbound I-84 or to enter westbound I-84.

While firefighters worked to free the trapped man from the wreckage, state police allowed motorists on Wasserman Way to enter I-84 via the Exit 11 on-ramp.

State police estimated that it would take several hours to lift up and haul away the heavily damaged vehicle from the accident scene. Under normal conditions, the Exit 11 off-ramp experiences extensive backups during the evening rush.

Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps and a paramedic responded to the accident. The driver of the truck and his passenger were both transported to a hospital.

Further details will be reported when they become available.