State police, local crews respond to multiple crashes, incidents
March 19, 2026 | By Lisa Scagliotti
Waterbury Fire Department and several state crews were called to a vehicle fire involving a fuel truck near the I-89 exit in Waterbury on Monday. Photo by Gordon Miller
No one was seriously injured, but several incidents and serious crashes on Interstate 89 and local state highways recently have kept state police and local first responders busy while snarling traffic in Waterbury.
The most recent was an unusual emergency that both knocked out power and slowed traffic on Vermont Route 100 in Waterbury. That began during high winds overnight Monday into Tuesday when a large pine tree near the Farifield Marriott hotel fell into the road around 3 a.m. The incident took down power lines, knocking out service to more than 100 Green Mountain Power customers including Shaw’s supermarket and the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream plant.
The road was partially opened for traffic by the morning commute but crews continued working in the area through the day, making travel through that stretch of busy road slow going.
Two rollover crashes
On Saturday, a young driver who was not wearing a seatbelt managed to escape with just minor injuries after a one-car crash into rock ledges along I-89 just south of Waterbury.
That incident happened around 4:15 p.m. State police along with Waterbury Fire and Waterbury Ambulance Service responded to Interstate 89 for a single-vehicle crash on the northbound side near mile marker 61, south of the Waterbury-Stowe exit.
The vehicle had rolled over and the driver was ejected, according to the report by Trooper Ryan Riegler. Other motorists were the first to stop and were aiding the driver, 21-year-old Puja Lad from Plattsburgh. Riegler’s report noted that Lad was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
It was snowing at the time and road conditions were snowy and slushy. The investigation found that Lad lost control and struck a rock ledge, causing their 2021 Hynduai Tuscon to overturn.
Lad was taken to Central Vermont Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries, police said.
Early the next morning, responders in the Mad River Valley were called to another roll-over crash on Vermont Route 100B in Moretown.
That incident took place shortly before 2 a.m. near the intersection with Old Rt. 100, according to a report also from Trooper Riegler.
The weather by then was clear, but the road was icy, the report noted.
The 17-year-old driver from Waitsfield was not injured but their 2004 Ford Ranger was totaled after they lost control and the vehicle went off the road and overturned, police said. State police do not share names of juvenile drivers.
State police, Moretown Fire and Mad River Valley Ambulance Service responded. The driver, who was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, was evaluated and did not need to be transported to the hospital, police said.
Also on Sunday morning around 6 a.m., a single-vehicle crash near the intersection of Rt. 100 and Guptil Road in Waterbury Center led responders to close a section of that two-lane roadway to traffic for a short time.
Lt. Thomas Howard, commander at the state police Berlin barracks, said that incident involved black ice which was prevalent at that time. Details on that crash were not immediately available.
Another incident followed soon afterward on Rt. 100 in Duxbury near Wilder Lane just after 8 a.m. Icy and slushy road conditions contributed to that single-vehicle crash where the vehicle struck a guardrail and came to rest in the center of Rt. 100, according to Trooper Ryan Normile.
Rt. 100 was down to a single lane open to traffic for about an hour and a half until that scene was cleared, he said.
Truck fire contained
A Waterbury firefighter works to extinguish the fire on the underside of the truck. Photo by Gordon Miller
At about 10:40 a.m. Monday morning, state police, Waterbury Fire Department and others responded to a reported vehicle fire at the northbound offramp of Interstate 89 at Exit 10 in Waterbury.
The incident involved an Irving Gas fuel truck. State Trooper Mae Murdock in a brief report afterward noted that the driver “conducted fire suppression actions” before firefighters arrived to completely put the fire out. The fire originated from under the vehicle and did not involve the fuel tank portion of the rig.
No one was injured. A Vermont Hazmat crew responded, given that the truck contained hazardous materials and Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles personnel also were involved with the subsequent investigation, Murdock noted.
Driver in Feb. 20 crash to be charged
A driver from a February two-car crash on North Main Street in Waterbury at Winooski Street will face several criminal charges in state court.
The incident happened on Feb. 20 at approximately 1:15 p.m. Troopers responded to the intersection where a 2023 Hyundai Tucson had driven down Winooski Street, approaching North Main. A 2020 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup was traveling on North Main Street. The Tuscon turned onto North Main Street, colliding with the pickup, according to police.
The driver of the Hyundai was Christopher Donnelly, 39, of Northfield. Alexander Lawton, 61, of Waitsfield, was driving the pickup, which police said was totaled. Lawton, who was wearing a seatbelt, was not injured.
The police report notes that during the investigation, Donnelly committed the offenses of disorderly conduct and unlawful trespass. Donnelly also was suspected to be under the influence of intoxicants, police said.
Donnelly was taken to Central Vermont Medical Center and later released with a citation to appear in Washington County Superior Court on April 30 to answer to the charges of Operating Under the Influence, Unlawful Trespass and Disorderly Conduct.