EAST DOVER- Francis Murray, 55, of Warren, NH, was killed when the truck he was driving overturned on a sharp corner Friday at about 2:30 pm.

Police are still investigating the cause of the accident, but Dover Police Investigator Rich Werner said preliminary findings indicate that the speed of the truck, while not excessive, was a factor in the rollover. Werner said Murray wasn’t familiar with the road and, despite signage indicating the steep grade and sharp curve ahead, may not have been fully aware of the dangerous curve near the intersection of Dover Hill Road and Taft Brook Road.

Werner said any further determination on the cause is pending preliminary autopsy results, as well as the results of an inspection of Murray’s tractor-trailer unit conducted by the state’s commercial vehicle enforcement team.

Murray was an independent owner-operator based in Warren, NH. According to police, he was enroute from Bondville to an East Dover construction site with a load of lumber when the accident occurred. A passing motorist, who didn’t witness the crash, called 911 within seconds of the incident.

First responders arrived on the scene to find lumber strewn across the roadway and Murray’s truck lying upside down about 30 feet down an embankment. East Dover Fire Chief John Abel said it was immediately clear that he’d need more equipment on the scene than his department could muster. He called in West Dover, Wilmington, and Brattleboro fire departments for assistance. Dartmouth Hitchcock’s air ambulance, the DHART, was called in as well.

The cab of the truck was crushed and flattened in the rollover, and the first rescue workers on the scene had difficulty ascertaining Murray’s condition. Fire and rescue personnel attempted to cut through the wreckage using the “Jaws of Life.” Wilmington Fire Chief Ken March, who was in charge of the extrication, said the first few minutes on the scene were “chaotic.”

“It was a difficult spot on an embankment and close to a brook,” March said. “We were finally able to get to him through the driver’s side, but it still didn’t confirm anything. It just gave us a probability.”

Using equipment on the scene, including an excavator owned by East Dover resident Jeff Brown and recovery equipment from Briggs Automotive, rescuers lifted the truck off the ground and stabilized it by placing cribbing underneath. “Then we were able to get in there and make an assessment,” March says. “That’s when it became clear that this would be a recovery operation, not a rescue.”

Murray was pronounced dead on the scene by medics from the DHART, and the regional medical examiner.

Although Murray didn’t survive the crash, rescuers were surprised when his dog, which was riding in the cab with him, walked out of the cab apparently uninjured. The dog was put in the care of Dover animal control officer Sonny Brown until it could be returned to Murray’s family.

Although local residents recall similar truck rollovers on the corner over the last several decades, Abel says the curve isn’t notorious for its accident rate. “The road was improved a few years ago and a new guard rail put in,” Abel notes. “There have been a few that hit the guard rails, but nothing serious since then.”

During the recovery operation, access to East Dover by Dover Hill Road was blocked for almost 11 hours. Wilmington and Brattleboro crews were released from the scene at about 6:30 pm, after the truck had been righted and removed. East Dover and Dover crews were on the scene until after 1 am, assisting with the cleanup of debris and lumber. “We left the embankment without a stick,” Abel says.

Abel says he’s thankful for the support of the area agencies, as well as civic-minded local citizens who pitched in to help. “Before West Dover Fire Department got traffic stopped, townspeople jumped in and helped stop traffic so nobody else would run into the accident,” he says. “We had great support from the community.”