Semi gets stuck in deep mud in Sonoma County

SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- The ground in Sonoma County is definitely saturated. On Tuesday the driver of an 18-wheeler thought he could drive through a flooded road and got himself in a big mess.

The 18-wheeler ended up spinning its wheels after its front end sank in the mud, just off of Highway 121 in Schellville. It took a heavy duty wrecker to get him out.

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"I've been on three [jobs] today," Brian Vaughan from Ramirez Towing said.

Flood waters swallowed Highway 121 and Highway 12 earlier in the day. When the truck driver tried to turn around, he ended up on the water-logged ground and sank.

"When he was stuck, he thought he could leave the trailer where it was at and just drive the tractor through the mud and then re-hook his trailer," Vaughan said.

Another commercial van tried to drive around him and got stuck too. Schellville resident Tom Rienecker says Highways 121 and 12 flood after every heavy rain because the creek that flows under it was altered.

"And they made the creek half as wide, but it gave them another 100 acres or whatever to plant grapes in. So what happens is all this water that used to just run right down through here, builds up down there and it backs up," Rienecker said.

Rienecker says cars get stuck out there all the time, but it's rare to see a big rig make this mistake. Now the CHP says the driver could face a fine for ignoring the road closure sign.

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