Water tanker careens off I-79 overpass onto Route 188 below

WAYNESBURG – Emergency responders said it’s a miracle a driver survived after his water tanker careened off an Interstate 79 overpass near the Waynesburg exit and crashed onto a road below Thursday afternoon.
The Dean’s Water truck was traveling south on I-79 shortly after 1:30 p.m. when it crashed through a guardrail in the left lane about a half-mile north of the interchange and flew over an embankment between the highway overpasses, landing in a heap on Route 188 below.

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Wayensburg-Franklin volunteer firefighters are shown at the scene where a water tanker truck went off Interstate 79 near the Waynesburg exit and crashed onto Route 188 below.
Waynesburg-Franklin volunteer firefighters had to cut the driver from his smashed cab, but he was alert and talking to them as they worked. The driver, whose identity was not immediately released, was flown by medical helicopter to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., with what state police said were critical injuries.
Two Center Township Public Works crewmen, Harry Gillispie and Paul Cook, were traveling back from a meeting in Jefferson when they saw utility lines along Route 188 shaking ahead. Gillispie assumed someone hit a telephone pole, but they were astonished when they saw the smashed remnants of the cab and its fresh-water tank thrown several feet away.
Hoses were tangled around the slumping utility wires and fresh water slowly leaked out of the tank and onto Route 188’s muddy berm.
“We thought no one could have survived,” Gillispie said.
“Until I heard him hollering for help,” Cook added.
The two men kept the driver calm while waiting for firefighters to arrive. Gillispie reached through the mangled wreckage to hold the man’s hand while Cook went back to their work truck to get a fire extinguisher.
“He had a strong grip,” Gillispie said.
Dean’s Water General Manager Lila Zelensky said the employee has been driving for the Washington-based water company for 20 years.
“He’s an excellent driver, and we’re just all praying for him,” Zelensky said. “It’s very serious.”
Waynesburg-Franklin fire Chief Jeff Marshall marveled at the wreckage. He said he has never seen someone survive such a violent crash.
“It’s one of the most damaged and confined (vehicles) that we’ve done in a long time,” Marshall said.
State police Trooper Lucas Borkowski said it was also “very lucky” no cars were traveling on Route 188 below the overpasses at the time of the crash.
Two vehicles traveling north on I-79 sustained minor damage when they were struck by debris from the tanker.
Police are still investigating why the tanker traveled off the interstate. Waynesburg police assisted state police at the scene of the accident.

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
State police troopers stand on the median of Interstate 79 near the Waynesburg exit while they investigate why a water tanker drove off the highway and onto Route 188 below.