A state trooper talks to a woman about the wreck of a boat on state Route 3 Monday.
(Enterprise photo — Jessica Collier)

Boat flips onto highway (update)

By JESSICA COLLIER, Enterprise Staff Writer

POSTED: August 17, 2009

SARANAC LAKE - A still-wet boat and the trailer it was being towed on behind a truck flipped onto state Route 3 Monday afternoon.

Police said Elizabeth Killenbeck, of Mannsville (south of Watertown), was towing the boat from her campsite near Tupper Lake to gas it up in Saranac Lake when the trailer became dislodged from the truck as it slowed coming down a hill. The trailer hit the back of the truck, slammed into guard rails and flipped onto the road.

The boat, a blue and white American Skier, was upside down on the western shoulder of Route 3 just west of Saranac Lake, with broken seats and shattered glass trailed behind it as Killenbeck, still clad in a damp bathing suit and a tank top, searched the sides of the road for missing items. The trailer righted itself and was moved to the eastern side of the road, said Trooper Eric LaValley.

There were no injuries, and no other vehicles were hit. The wrecked boat, which LaValley said was unsalvageable, lay in part of the southbound lane, and fire volunteers directed vehicles passing through as one lane of traffic remained open.

"It was more of a mess than anything else," LaValley said.

State police received the call at 1:41 p.m., and LaValley said the debris was cleaned up about an hour later.

Killenbeck was ticketed for inadequate equipment.

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Contact Jessica Collier at (518) 891-2600 ext. 25 or jcollier@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.