ROCKINGHAM — Broad Avenue was covered in feathers Thursday morning after a truck hauling chickens overturned.
The single-vehicle wreck happened around 8:45 a.m. near the intersection with Greene Street, according to Rockingham Fire Chief Harold Isler.
He said when crews arrived, some of the chickens were alive and some were dead. One of the crates had come loose and rolled down the embankment.
Both the chickens and the truck belonged to Perdue, he said, adding that he belives the truck was heading to the processing plant on Long Drive.
The truck was flipped over on the passenger side and the driver, who later refused treatment from FirstHealth EMS, was already out of the vehicle when crews arrived, according to Isler.
The eastbound lanes of the road, also designated as U.S. 74 Business, were closed for about two hours while the chickens were cleaned up from the road, he said.
There was also a “moderate” fuel spill from the side tanks of the truck, which the N.C. Department of Transportation was called to clean up, Isler added.
The N.C. State Highway Patrol also responded and the wreck is under investigation by the Rockingham Police Department.
This is at least the second overturned chicken truck in Richmond County this year.
A driver was cited after flipping a truck on U.S. 220 in January. That wreck resulted in traffic being detoured for six hours.