It was a spudtastrophe!

Osburn Police Department officer Jason Woody has a bit of a chuckle as the last few potatoes are picked up off the side of Interstate 90 on Thursday.
Photo by CHANSE WATSON

More potato casualties lie in the grass next to I-90, as some of them were too mashed to be saved.

by CHANSE WATSON
Hagadone News Network | March 11, 2021 5:35 PM

OSBURN — And only a week from St. Patrick's Day…

The Osburn Police Department responded to a report of a cargo truck dropping potatoes on westbound Interstate 90 Thursday afternoon and thankfully, only some of the potatoes got mashed.

OPD Lt. Jason Woody explained that the truck carrying the brown vegetables had a malfunction with its dump latch and started intermittently dropping potatoes on the road around milepost 60. The drivers realized what was happening around MP 55 and pulled over to fix the issue. Unfortunately for them and the potatoes, a massive pile poured out of the back when they stopped.

Thanks to the help of Woody and a few other Silver Valley residents that couldn't resist the opportunity to get some free spuds, nearly all the potatoes were cleaned up and the truck was able to carry on its way.

While it was unknown how many the truck was carrying in total, Woody said that more than 1,000 pounds of potatoes were dumped onto the freeway between MP 60 and 55 — mostly where the truck came to a halt.

Loose potatoes could be seen alongside the interstate while driving westbound and no injuries or damage resulted from the incident.

Photo by CHANSE WATSON

More potato casualties lie in the grass next to I-90, as some of them were too mashed to be saved.