A crash in Baker County involving a windmill tower closed a large stretch of Interstate 84 in Eastern Oregon for most of the day March 13, 2024.

BAKER CITY — A commercial truck hauling a 59-foot-long, 16-foot-high section of a wind turbine tower crashed while rounding a curve on Interstate 84 between Baker City and Ontario Wednesday morning, March 13, causing damage that closed the freeway in both directions for about 17 hours.

The crash, which didn’t result in any injuries or damage to other vehicles, happened around 9 a.m., according to an Oregon State Police report.

The freeway reopened around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 14, said Vicki Moles, public information officer for the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Region 5 office in La Grande.

The truck, driven by Edward Lee Bifano, 35, of Quincy, Washington, was heading east when it failed to negotiate a corner near where the freeway enters the Burnt River Canyon just east of the Ash Grove Cement plant, according to the OSP report.

The truck crashed into the concrete divider between the eastbound and westbound lanes, then rolled. The collision smashed sections of the divider and spread debris onto the westbound lanes. Bifano was not cited, according to OSP.

Moles didn’t have an estimated weight for the section of tower.

During the crash, chunks of concrete from the freeway dividers were lodged inside the tower section, and crews had to remove the debris before moving the structure with a crane, Moles said.

The length of the freeway closure was due in part to the need for the crane to arrive, which happened late in the afternoon, she said.

A standard tow truck wasn’t capable of moving the section of tower, she said.

Moles said she didn’t know where the crane came from.

“It really was an effort to get the right equipment,” she said.

Moles said she didn’t know the tower’s destination.

As with weather-related closures, the freeway blockage extended during the day as parking spaces for trucks became filled, Moles said.

Initially, the freeway was closed in both directions between Baker City and Ontario.

The eastbound closure was later extended to La Grande, and then to Pendleton, for commercial traffic.