A bystander came to the rescue of a driver after a dump truck plunged into the ocean in Mill Bay on Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 26.
According to Ron Beck, chief of the Mill Bay Volunteer Fire Department, the truck was proceeding down a steep hill on Frayne Road when it apparently lost its brakes and went through an intersection before heading down a 50-foot bank and landing upside down in the ocean.
By the time firefighters reached the scene, a bystander had leaped into action and dove into the water to help the driver get out of the truck. Both the driver and rescuer were back on shore when firefighters arrived.
“She went into the water and the driver was just getting herself out, and she helped her to shore,” Beck related.
Beck estimated that the truck ended up in about eight feet of water. He said he had never been to an incident of that sort before.
“Nothing like that where a dump truck went into the ocean and flipped upside-down,” he said.
Mill Bay Towing was called to the scene, but Beck believed they would have to wait for heavy equipment to arrive before they could retrieve the truck.
