Train hits semi-trailer stuck on tracks in Ridgefield this morning

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It was an eventful morning at the Ridgefield boat launch today as a semi-trailer carrying four vehicles was hit by a train, sending the trailer and truck into Lake River. None were injured.

The Ridgefield Police Department first received word of the incident shortly after 8 a.m. according to police chief John Brooks.

Brooks explained that the driver of the semi-trailer was delivering a van in the area. Because the trailer had a low clearance it “high-centered” on the railroad tracks across Mill Street. The driver exited the vehicle and called 911 to report the situation — at that time the crossing signals actuated as a train approached the trailer.

Brooks said the passing train hit the back of the trailer, knocking off the van in the process which landed on adjacent tracks. That impact sent the trailer and semi-truck westward where it “rolled perfect, downhill and right into the boat launch, right into the water,” Brooks said.

The distance from the train tracks to the water’s edge at the boat launch is about 500 feet, according to Clark County Geographic Information Systems.

“It’s kind of a miracle that it didn’t crash into anything on the way down,” Brooks remarked.

Brooks said that there was not any damage to the rails themselves to affect subsequent train traffic. By around 11 a.m. trains had resumed travel along the tracks.

Brooks said he believed the train was owned by Union Pacific while the railroad itself is owned by BNSF Railway. He was not able to provide the name of the driver of the semi-trailer, though the individual received no injuries as a result of the accident, being outside of the vehicle at impact.



Alongside RPD, Clark County Fire & Rescue, Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Union Pacific Police Department, BNSF Railway officials, the Washington State Department of Ecology and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the scene.

“As things go, it was a very smooth operation,” Brooks remarked.

As a precaution, a floating boom was deployed to contain any surface oil spilled as a result of the accident.

Crews from TLC Towing worked to recover the trailer and vehicles from the river. The truck’s front hood had come off and its windshield was busted out — the windshield wipers were still running as the truck emerged from the water.

Brooks was not able to give an estimate of the cost of the damages that afternoon, though on the scene the vehicles still on the trailer did appear somewhat damaged. A police report on the incident is pending.

This story will be updated.