Route 101 in Dublin was blocked for over an hour Sunday when a car carrier failed to navigate a turn.
Dublin Fire and Rescue Chief Tom Vanderbilt said Tuesday that the call came in at approximately 4 p.m. that the state highway was blocked at the intersection of Lake, Snow Hill and Frothingham roads.
“A deputy was on duty and observed the car carrier unloading a vehicle at the fire station parking lot. Somehow (the driver) thought it was a good idea to park there,” said Vanderbilt, noting that this process blocked access from the station for emergency vehicles, and shortly the car carrier moved on toward Dublin Lake.
“It was a trailer shipping used vehicles, not a dealer, and at one point on 101 he decided to make a U-turn,” said Vanderbilt, who noted that this was unsuccessful, resulting in the trailer blocking both lanes of Route 101.
Dublin Police were participating in a joint Active Attack Integrated Response Course at Monadnock Community Hospital at the time, which resulted in New Hampshire State Police responding to the call.
Capt. Ernest Belletete of the Peterborough Police was off-duty at the time and returning home through Dublin when he came upon the scene, and was the first police presence there.
“It’s a good thing it happened on a Sunday rather than a commuting day,” said Belletete Wednesday. “He was an out-of-state driver. It took a good-sized tow truck to get it out of its spot,” said Belletete, who began rerouting traffic until State Police arrived an hour later.
“It caused some issues. People were making up their own detours as a result,” said Vanderbilt, who on Tuesday questioned why driver would attempt such a maneuver with a car carrier. “It was not the brightest of moves. He was wearing flip flops. Operating a car carrier in flip flops – I told the State Police there that that alone should be a red flag for them.”
Noting that the truck operator had earlier parked his vehicle so as to block access from the fire and rescue station, Vanderbilt said, “I guess we need to get the ‘No Parking’ notices out front repainted.”