WILSON, Wyo. — Last night, a truck towing a trailer carrying three vehicles lost its brakes and broke through the guardrail along Teton Pass, injuring the truck’s driver and starting a small fire in the area.
Multiple agencies responded to the incident, including law enforcement, Jackson Hole Fire/EMS, Teton County Search and Rescue (TCSAR) and the U.S. Forest Service. Fire/EMS Battalion Chief Chris Stiehl said the response was a “full-team effort.”
The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) issued an alert at 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday, reporting a crash at milepost 7. According to Stiehl, the truck lost its brakes near the top of the pass just before midnight, and the weight of the trailer provided enough force to break through the rail. Wyoming Highway Patrol Officer Arron Healy told Buckrail the truck careened along the rail for about 100 feet before striking a rock and leaving the road just above the catchnet truck arrestor system.
After the vehicle and trailer landed on the hillside, the truck caught fire, along with a small area of ground cover surrounding the vehicle, amounting to an estimated 0.1-acre blaze. The fire was extinguished, and Forest Service investigators assessed the area as it cooled off this morning. Stiehl said there were “no more concerns” with the fire.
The driver of the vehicle either crawled away on his own or was ejected from the truck, Stiehl said. TCSAR assisted in the rescue of the driver on the steep hillside, with volunteers approaching on foot from Old Pass Road using a wheeled litter to transport the driver to a waiting ambulance.
The vehicles were in the process of being extracted on Tuesday morning. Since one of the vehicles being towed was an electric Rivian, extra precaution was necessary in its removal, as damaged electric vehicles can be fire hazards.
The driver’s status has yet to be determined, and the cause of the crash remains under investigation.
