Photo: The Sandisfield Times.

In the first, at noon, Friday, September 11, a Ryder rental truck traveling south ran head on into a utility pole in front of the Verizon building in New Boston. The crash knocked out power for residents for a couple hours and sent Rt. 8 motorists on a roundabout tour of Sandisfield, mainly up or down Town Hill Road.

Two people, self-extricated from the vehicle, were transported to the hospital with minor injuries, according to the Sandisfield Fire Department. A Times reporter who had been working nearby at the New Boston Church heard the crash and was one of the first on the scene. He said that the Sandisfield Fire and Police response were extraordinarily fast and efficient.

The second crash on Rt. 8, about two weeks later on September 24, was a two-vehicle head-on collision that occurred only about 1/8th of a mile north of the earlier truck crash.

This one, in front of 123 N. Main Street, involved an automobile and a commercial vehicle. Sandisfield Fire responded and requested additional assistance, including Rescue from Otis. Engine companies arrived from Tolland and Granville as well as Northwest Medics from Winsted.

One motorist was trapped in a crash vehicle and responders worked approximately 25 minutes to extricate the patient. Two victims were transported to a Connecticut hospital, one listed as a trauma alert.

Route 8 was closed for approximately an hour and a half, sending motorists back on the Sandisfield detour. Massachusetts State Police are investigating the accident.