Storm Causes Semi Accident With Loss of 20 Head Of Cattle

Semi laid over - John Anderson of Arapahoe, driving a 1997 Freightliner pulling a cattle pot owned by White Trucking of Hadar, was eastbound on Hwy. 20/275 on a road which was completely snow covered and considered impassable. The driver stated he was doing approximately 25 mph, when the semi got off the road on the south side. The driver attempted to correct and bring the truck back onto the road and was sucked into the ditch.

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Firefighters respond to the crash scene Saturday morning

  Another weather system dumped approximately eight inches of snow this past Friday night and into Saturday. The weather caused traffic conditions to become treacherous, causing a semi and cattle pot to tip over into the ditch just west of Inman. The O'Neill Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to a single semi-rollover with a loaded cattle pot on Saturday morning, January 28, around 5 a.m. The truck was registered to White Trucking out of Hadar.

The new snow topped off full ditches and provided a problematic situation. Approximately 70 head of cattle were on board when the cattle pot tipped onto its side, with 20 of the cows not being able to be saved. The department spent seven-plus hours on scene cutting up the cattle pot to save the remaining 50 head of cattle. The department used portable pens and was able to remove the cattle and then send them to the O'Neill sale barn. 

Dr. Kirk Sholes of the O'Neill Veterinary Clinic was called to help humanely dispose of the injured cattle and access the surviving cattle taken to the livestock market. The Holt County Sheriff's Department investigated the scene with the help of the O'Neill Volunteer Fire Department, A&J Towing, Dr. Sholes with the O'Neill Vet Clinic, Nebraska Department of Roads, Emme Construction and many area ranchers who brought trailers and tractors to help get cattle back to sale barns safely. 

The fire department was on the scene for approximately seven hours.

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