UNION — A portion of Route 17 (Heald Highway) is closed this afternoon in Union after a garbage truck took out a guide wire and five poles at the intersection of Sennebec Road. The intersection will be closed for some time and drivers are advised to seek alternate routes.

At approximately 2:50 p.m., Union Fire Dept. and Ambulance, along with Knox County Sheriff’s Deputies, were alerted to an incident in which a commercial truck snagged a guide wire, which pulled the wire, creating a domino effect that pulled down five poles in the vicinity.

Traffic along Heald Highway (Route 17) has been diverted along Common Road.

According to the KCSO, Ryan Lanphere, of Appleton, was operating a 2018 Dodge Ram 3500 with an attached 16 foot trailer. He attempted to take a right hand turn off of Town House Road into the parking lot of Four Corner Variety. Due to the trailer being on, he cut the corner too sharp and his trailer took out the guide wire causing the pole to break. When the pole broke, the wire over Route 17 hung low over the road. 
 
A Pinetree trash truck was traveling eastbound on Rt. 17, and hit the low hanging wires causing three more poles to break. This resulted in the entire intersection of Sennebec and Rt. 17 to be closed, as well as blocking the entrance to Dollar General and Four Corner Variety on Town House Road. Power was lost in the area.

Union Fire, the Sheriffs Office and Central Maine Power were on scene within minutes of the call coming in. Traffic was rerouted away from Rt 17 to Common Road. 

Multiple Central Maine Power vehicles and crew members are on scene as of 4:25 p.m. One of their flaggers replaced Union Ambulance, which was blocking a road near the Union Common Market. Another flagger took the place of a deputy, who was diverting traffic at another intersection. Appleton Fire Department was initially called to block traffic from entering the area from the Appleton side. They have since put up cones and/or signage and returned to their station.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com