ST. GEORGE — A driver sustained minor injuries in a rollover crash on Red Cliffs Drive in St. George Monday morning that took out several feet of fencing and caused a backup of traffic for nearly an hour as responders tended to the scene.
Shortly after 10 a.m., officers and emergency personnel were dispatched to a single-vehicle rollover on Red Cliffs Drive just north of 2000 East involving a white Chevrolet pickup truck that rolled down an embankment after just missing hitting a tree head-on and landed on its side in a residential yard.
St. George Police Officer Ean Williams told St. George News that responders arrived to find the overturned pickup wedged into a chain-link fence. The driver had climbed out of the truck and was located nearby with minor injuries.
Several motorists stopped to check on the driver, who had sustained some scrapes and bruises but nothing serious, Williams said, and he declined medical treatment at the scene.
Meanwhile, additional officers were dispatched and both northbound lanes of Red Cliffs Drive were blocked once the heavy wrecker arrived to pull the vehicle up from the embankment — an operation that took more than 30 minutes due to the metal fencing that became entangled with the pickup during the crash.
Officers also learned the crash ruptured the truck’s fuel tank and fuel was leaking from the truck.
At the time of the crash, the pickup was heading northeast along Red Cliffs Drive, in the outside lane closest to the median, when the driver experienced “some type of medical issue,” Williams said, and lost control of the pickup as it veered across both lanes of travel and left the roadway. From there, the truck jumped the curb and rolled down the embankment, narrowly missing a tree by a few feet, before the truck became entangled with the fence and landed upside-down.
Fire crews responded and initiated cleanup operations for the fuel leak. which also made it unsafe to operate any rescue equipment to cut away at the chain-link fencing that was wrapped around the front of the vehicle.
Once any residual fuel was cleaned up, fire crews cut away at the metal fencing that was wedged in between the front bumper using hydraulic extrication tools, which freed the vehicle that was then pulled from the backyard and up the embankment before it was towed from the roadway.
Both northbound lanes of Red Cliffs Drive were blocked for approximately 45 minutes, Williams said, and traffic was diverted into the center turn lane while responders tended to the scene. The chain-link fence was pulled from its base and several feet of fencing sustained extensive damage in the crash.
The driver was properly restrained at the time of the crash and was later cited for unsafe lane travel. No other vehicles were involved in the incident.
This report is based on statements from police, emergency personnel or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
Photo gallery
Tow truck operators works to pull pickup from the ravine were it is entangled in chain-link fencing following rollover crash on Red Cliffs Drive, St. George, Utah, Sept. 19, 2022 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News Firefighters work to free pickup from metal fencing following a rollover crash on Red Cliffs Drive, St. George, Utah, Sept. 19, 2022 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News Pickup truck lands on its side in the backyard of a residence following a rollover crash on Red Cliffs Drive, St. George, Utah, Sept. 19, 2022 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News Pickup truck lands on its side in the backyard of a residence following a rollover crash on Red Cliffs Drive, St. George, Utah, Sept. 19, 2022 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News Tow truck operators works to pull pickup from the ravine were it is entangled in chain-link fencing following rollover crash on Red Cliffs Drive, St. George, Utah, Sept. 19, 2022 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News Pickup is towed from scene of rollover on Red Cliffs Drive, St. George, Utah, Sept. 19, 2022 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News Pickup is towed from scene of rollover on Red Cliffs Drive, St. George, Utah, Sept. 19, 2022 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News 
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