The Owl is re-posting the following write-up from the Weston Fire Department with their permission. All images are theirs. Also, our fire department rules and is nothing like the Tacoma Fire Department (HBO Max, not the actual one, about which I have zero information).

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Yesterday, Saturday February 26, just before noon the Weston Fire Department was dispatched along with the Massachusettts State Police and Newton Fire Department for a reported Tractor Trailer into the Charles River near the Mass Pike and Route 128/95.

On arrival in the area, Units found a Tractor Trailer swimming in the Charles River. Remarkably, the driver had self- extricated himself from the cab before it sank and was standing on the broken front of the trailer out of the water (see close-up inside the red circle below).

Firefighters donned cold water rescue suits and removed him through the water to shore within 5 minutes of arrival and the driver was transported to a Boston Hospital by the Newton Medics.

The truck was carrying US Mail so the Mail Inspector was notified to respond along with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) due to the possible environmental impact of the truck in the water. I am guessing the swans got a very very big surprise. Maybe a couple of cool Chewy packages.

Crews remained on scene for the remainder of the afternoon and well into the evening and assisted crews including the State Police Dive Team with the removal of the truck from the water as well as assisting with the recovery of packages from the water utilizing the Weston Speedboat (no, not really, people, it’s a big rubber raftie thing).

While the investigation is ongoing, it was determined that the truck was exiting the Mass Pike East Bound on the ramp to I-95 North. It somehow crossed the ramp and went over the guardrail, down the embankment into the river. The exact circumstances leading up to the accident are under investigation by the Mass State Police.

The Fire Department would like to thank all those who responded and assisted them both on scene and providing Station Coverage during this long duration incident. Also they promise to get a station dalmatian as soon as possible (the Owl may or may not have fudged this last sentence).