Family, colleagues mourn death of truck driver

INCLINE VILLAGE - As word spreads of the tragic big-rig truck crash last Friday that killed a San Diego man and destroyed a two-story home near the Mt. Rose Highway runaway truck ramp, regional truckers are paying their respects.

All this week, as truckers are making the drive from Reno to Tahoe, they've been blaring their horns as they pass the runaway ramp at the intersection near state routes 431 and 28, undoubtedly as a tribute to fallen colleague Frederick Matthews, 41, of San Diego.

"We live quite a ways up from where the tragic truck accident happened," said Incline resident Kristen Ferrall. "I have been hearing truck after truck after truck honk their horns off in that direction since the accident ... I'm not sure if it's a thing drivers are supposed to do when they pass the scene of such a terrible accident ... or if there is an unwritten way of showing their sentiment and sense that this industry is very family oriented and there is a great sense of respect and acknowledgment of what happened here."

That same family sentiment was shared in a Wednesday interview with Wilma Knowles, co-owner of Kennie Knowles Trucking Co. of Redding, Calif., where Matthews worked.

"The main question is how did the accident happen," Knowles said. "It's been hard on all the guys here because my guys are very close."

Initial reports from Friday's incident concluded that Matthews lost control of his lumber-hauling truck, and he catapulted off the runaway truck ramp, flying through the air and landing on the home at 645 Woodridge Circle. Gwen Ewasko, 19, was the lone person inside the home, and she escaped without injury. Her four pet cats died in the vehicle and structure fire.

Knowles said Matthews had no previous crashes or accidents on his driving record. The truck he was driving had been given consistent maintenance starting in December 2009 and was serviced and inspected as early as June 1, Knowles said, and its trailer carrying the lumber was inspected on June 7.

Matthews' family, who said he was an experienced driver, expressed concerns in a San Diego Channel 10 news interview on Tuesday about the safety of the truck ramp and wondered why it was not able to stop Matthew's' 18-wheeler.

"I would not like for any other mother's son or child to go through that, so whatever the investigation does prove I hope they can do something about it," said Elizabeth Namowicz, Matthews' mother, in the interview.

Friday's incident marked the third major truck crash in the past nine years at the ramp.

On Monday, spokesman Scott Magruder said Nevada Department of Transportation officials will evaluate the ramp to determine if it needs safety improvements.

Knowles said the situation may have been more complex than a simple failure of machinery.

She explained brakes on a big-rig truck sometimes overheat, causing them to lose traction when clamping down on the rotors. The brake loss forces the driver to use lower gearing to slow his or her vehicle, something Knowles said must happen in a split second after taking the truck out of gear.

"With a big rig truck once you get it out of gear you would have to downshift two or three gears to slow it down enough which sometimes isn't even possible depending on your speed," she said.

Matthews' family, who said he was an experienced driver, expressed concerns in a San Diego Channel 10 news interview on Tuesday about the safety of the truck ramp and wondered why it was not able to stop Matthew's' 18-wheeler.

"I would not like for any other mother's son or child to go through that, so whatever the investigation does prove I hope they can do something about it," said Elizabeth Namowicz, Matthews' mother, in the interview.

Friday's incident marked the third major truck crash in the past nine years at the ramp. In May 2002, according to previous reports, a truck was also sent airborne, with the driver, 23-year-old Manuel Ortega-Portillo, suffering moderate head injuries and having to be airlifted for medical attention. The truck came to rest next to the same house on Woodridge Circle, which was damaged slightly from flying debris.

After the 2002 crash, NDOT performed a six-week renovation that included dumping 110 tons of gravel to make four or five last-ditch mounds at the top of the ramp, according to a July 12, 2002, Bonanza story. The mounds, which grow progressively larger uphill, are meant to stop trucks that the downhill gravel path doesn't halt.