Driver says he dozed off, takes out fire hydrant on Peters Pike in Butler Twp.

UPDATE @ 5:50 p.m.: Water from the busted fire hydrant in the 6900 block of Peters Pike  in Butler Twp. is flooding a nearby residential garage.

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Butler Twp. fire personnel said they will have to stop the water flow before they can check the extent of the damage. Crews said they aren't sure how many residences will be affected by the cutoff or how long the water will be shut off.

Meantime, Butler Twp. police said Joe, the driver, will be ticketed for failure to control.

INITIAL REPORT

A 63-year-old Dayton man, who admitted he dozed off because he had gotten little sleep the night before, took out a fire hydrant late Monday afternoon in the 6900 block of Peters Pike in Butler Twp.

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“I want to tell everybody. If you’re tired, dozing, don’t drive,” the man, who said his name is Joe, told our crew at the scene. He said he is going through a divorce and has not been sleeping.

Joe didn’t say where he was headed, but he did say he dozed off  -- twice -- before he tried to steer between two large bushes, hit a dividing timber used for traffic, went airborne in his Ford Ranger and crashed through the hydrant just south of Meeker Road about 4:30 p.m.

“I’m a little bit sore,” Joe said. “My head kind of jammed against the ceiling on the right side of the truck.”

He said he had gotten two hours of sleep, presumably on Sunday night, and blamed the divorce.

“If you’re tired, going through something in life, just pull over. I’m glad no one got hurt.”

Joe declined a trip to a hospital to be checked out.

Butler Twp. police shut down Peters Pike, just south of Meeker, for a time because water from the busted hydrant was spraying all over the roadway. They have since opened the far right lane (northbound).

Joe’s truck has been towed. The hydrant will have to be replaced.

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