Thousands of French fries clog I-90

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Story Published: Jun 15, 2007 at 2:01 PM PDT

Story Updated: Jun 15, 2007 at 7:34 PM PDT

By KOMO Staff

SNOQUALMIE PASS -- If someone had driven by with a deep fryer Friday morning the cleanup on Interstate 90 might have seemed a little less arduous.

Washington State Trooper Jeff Merrill said a semi-truck driver who fell asleep at the wheel slammed into another semi that was parked along the side of the interstate near Snoqualmie Pass, tearing apart the trailers and spilling thousands of McDonald's French fries across the westbound lanes.

A passenger in the sleeper compartment of one of the trucks was treated for a broken nose, but no one else was seriously injured in the crash about 9:30 a.m.

Merrill said the truck that was stopped was parked legally on the shoulder and the driver had just finished inspecting the semi when he was hit from behind.

The 29-year-old Tacoma man who fell asleep at the wheel of the truck hauling the McDonald's fries will be cited for negligent driving.

Department of transportation crews had to call in a front-loader and semi truck to clear the frozen French fries that had forced troopers to shut down all of the westbound lanes.

"It was a real mess," Merrill said.

Crews were still cleaning up the mess of sliced potatoes well into Friday afternoon.

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