NEWARK TOWNSHIP — A missing traffic sign means a citation is not appropriate for the driver of an Orfordville Fire Department tanker that rolled over on the way to a May fire, according to the Rock County District Attorney’s Office.
Michael Ponkauskas, 54, Orfordville, was cited for driving too fast for conditions, but the DA’s Office advised the Rock County Sheriff’s Office that the citation was not appropriate because a “turn ahead” sign had been knocked down just before the accident scene.
The sign has been replaced since the accident, according to the sheriff’s office.
The firefighters were traveling south on County H to a fire at 8314 W. St. Lawrence Road on May 5 when the tanker full of water rolled over. The accident happened south of Mill Pond Road where the road makes an 80-degree turn.
Ponkauskas is quoted in an accident report as saying he braked before the curve “but was not soon enough to slow down enough to take the curve safely.”
Ponkauskas was treated at Beloit Memorial Hospital while a passenger, Chad Cleasby, 31, Orfordville, was treated at Rockford Memorial Hospital.