A major Northern California freeway was shut down for hours after a big rig hauling piggies overturned, resulting in the swine running amok on the highway before cops were finally able to capture them all.
The semi-truck overturned Monday night on Interstate 80 in Placer County, blocking all westbound lanes of traffic. Things got even more crazy when some of the hogs in the trailer got loose and made a run for it, before animal control was called in to respond to the scene for livestock recovery.
Multiple agencies responded to the crash, as they worked to clear the road of the truck. Initial plans were to simply put the semi-truck back upright, until it was determined that it was too heavy with all the trapped piggies inside.
Crews then decided the only way to clean up the mess and reopen the highway was to cut into the trailer, resulting in sending more of the animals onto the road.
While CHP kept the roads clear, animal control worked to free the pigs trapped in the trailer and get them into a second vehicle using a ramp system.
Video of the pigs being coaxed up the ramp showed how challenging and time consuming the whole clean up situation was, as many of the swine were clearly not ready to get back on the road again, per KCRA.
As of Tuesday morning, traffic headed westbound had to be completely rerouted with the closure of the highway still in effect as they worked to get the semi upright and the debris off the roadways from the crash.
Eastbound traffic was impacted for a short amount of time to allow for emergency crews to get on scene.
By late Tuesday afternoon I-80 in both directions was once again back open, per Caltrans.
“WB I-80 is back open near Magra in Placer County! Thank you to our local partners for their support as crews worked to clear the incident. Expect delays as traffic slowly moves through the area.”
It is unclear at this time what caused the crash or how many piggies were being initially hauled in the big rig before the crash.
