PARIS — An Oxford man lost control of his van on Route 26 early Tuesday morning when his dog jumped on the steering wheel and the vehicle hit a tractor-trailer and burst into flames.
The dog died in the crash, but both drivers escaped serious injury, police said.
Police Chief David Verrier said Charles Hall, 26, of Oxford, was driving south near Stearns Hill Road at about 4:21 a.m. when his dog jumped onto the steering wheel, causing him to lose control of his 2004 Ford Windstar and cross the centerline.
William Long, 48, of Manchester, N.H., was driving a 2007 Freightliner tractor-trailer north, Verrier said. Long braked and steered left while Hall steered right and the two vehicles collided. Hall escaped the van, which caught fire, Verrier said.
He said neither driver was taken to a hospital.
Traffic was rerouted around the crash for about two hours.
treaves@sunjournal.com
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- A van owned and driven by Charles Hall, 26, of Oxford, burns after an early-morning collision with a tractor-trailer Tuesday on Route 26 in Paris. Neither driver was hospitalized, Paris police Chief David Verrier said, but Hall’s dog died in the crash.
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- A van burns after it collided with a tractor-trailer on Route 26 in Paris early Tuesday morning. The driver, Charles Hall, 26, of Oxford, was not seriously injured. His dog, however, died in the crash.
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