Landscaper truck crashes through guardrail in Boonton Twp.

BOONTON TWP. – A landscaping truck crashed through a guardrail on Rockaway Valley Road Monday afternoon, prompting a two-hour road closure and firefighters sawing through the guardrail so the truck could be towed.

Township Fire Department Chief Bill Klingener said Tuesday that two trucks were traveling in opposite directions on Rockaway Valley Road around 2:10 p.m. Monday when the driver of a landscaping truck moved to the road shoulder to apparently give the other vehicle more road room.

The landscaping truck clipped the guardrail and drove down an embankment into a field, ripping out an axle in the process. The occupants were not injured.

But clearing a path for a tow truck to remove the landscaping truck, which was hauling a Dumpster on its flatbed, required firefighters to use manual saws to cut the guardrail in three sections, Klingener said.

Police said that reports on the incident are still being prepared and that further information was not available.

The state Department of Environmental Protection was notified about the leakage of several gallons of antifreeze into the field. The Boonton Kiwanis First Aid Squad responded to the scene.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.