Several stones damaged after truck crashes through cemetery

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Several headstones at a Doaktown cemetery were damaged after a loaded logging truck failed to stop at a nearby intersection and drove into the cemetery.

Doaktown Mayor Art O’Donnell said the crash at the St. Thomas United Church Cemetery happened Tuesday as the truck was heading down a steep hill and approaching a stop sign at the corner of South Road and Route 123, known locally as Grand Lake Road.

That also happens to be near his house.

“My wife heard it when it happened,” he said. “I know that the driver exited the vehicle probably about halfway down the hill. It did a significant amount of damage to the cemetery.”

O’Donnell and Rev. Brian Curtis, the minister at St. Thomas United Church, said the runaway truck hit an estimated 10 to 12 stones in the cemetery and damaged the surrounding lawn. Curtis said this isn’t the first time a truck has failed to stop at the intersection and crashed into the cemetery.

“We’ve been through this enough to know that the insurance companies and everyone involved want to do what they can to make it right,” he said. “Our main concerns are making sure that everyone is OK and that there is follow-through.”

Curtis said the families whose loved ones’ graves have been affected have been contacted, and they’ve responded with “a degree of grace and consideration that, frankly, makes me quite proud of my community.”

Curtis said some stones hit by the truck were moved or pushed into the ground, while other vertical ones were “cracked clean in half.” He said cemetery committee members focused initially on levelling the ground to prevent visitors from tripping on the ruts created by the truck and equipment used to remove it, and more extensive repairs will likely take place in the spring.

“It was a fully loaded logging truck, so the ground was completely disturbed everywhere it was in the cemetery, and the gear used to unload and remove it was quite substantial,” said Curtis.

“We’re mostly glad that the driver wasn’t terribly hurt. It could have been a lot worse. Everyone is grateful that providence or the Holy Spirit lined up in such a way that only things were damaged and the driver has survivable injuries.”

O’Donnell and Curtis said staff from the nearby J.D. Irving, Limited sawmill and local firm Sou’west Enterprises sprung into action to move the load onto another truck and tidy up the damaged stones.

O’Donnell said Norm Grantley, the sawmill’s operations manager, contacted him to offer support and to address any complaints from village residents.

The mayor said he couldn’t confirm what injuries the driver suffered, if any.

“The driver is very fortunate that the trailer didn’t sway and hit him while it was going down the hill,” said O’Donnell. “It would have been going at a good speed, and that’s a really steep hill.”

O’Donnell said Tuesday’s crash is about the fourth he’s seen involving a logging truck at that intersection since he moved to the village after retiring 12 years ago.