One person killed in crash involving tractor-trailer in Orange

One person was killed in a crash involving a tractor-trailer that shut down Route 34 in Orange on Monday morning, officials said.

At 3:55 a.m., Orange police, fire and EMS were dispatched to the intersection of Racebrook Road and Orange Center Road for a report of a crash involving a tractor-trailer and a telephone pole, according to Orange Fire Department Fire Chief Vaughan Dumas.

While en route to the crash, additional calls reported a second vehicle involved in the crash that was on the north side of Orange Center Road, Dumas said in a press conference on Monday morning.

Upon arrival, emergency personnel discovered that a tractor-trailer was traveling westbound on Route 34 (Derby Avenue) from the New Haven direction toward Derby when it collided with a passenger vehicle at the intersection of Orange Center Road. The tractor-trailer then went off the road and hit a telephone pole and a tree. The vehicle continued a short distance up Orange Center Road, according to Dumas.

An occupant of the passenger vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene, Dumas said. The tractor-trailer driver had minor injuries and was transferred to an area hospital for evaluation.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was called to the crash to assist with the person killed at the scene.

Both sides of Route 34 were shut down at 4 a.m. as the Orange Police Department and the Connecticut State Police Truck Squad were investigating the crash, Dumas said.