The steep Broad Mountain claimed its first injury in a three-day crash spree as a tractor-trailer lost control while attempting to descend the mountain into Nesquehoning early Saturday morning.

An out-of-state truck driver was injured after he used the runaway truck ramp, but had enough momentum to shoot up the nearly 1/2 mile incline ramp, and continue about 50 yards before the rig cab wedged between two pine trees. Small rivets in the stone that fills the runaway truck ramp, which was designed to allow a speeding truck to "sink" into the stone and slow it down, showed that the rig didn't sink much as it traveled up the ramp.

This was the third wreck involving a tractor-trailer losing control as it traveled down the Broad Mountain on Route 93 in as many days.

Nesquehoning police officer Derek Marouchoc said this morning that the driver, like the others, didn't stop at the top of the hill at the designated truck pull off.

He didn't release a name, but said that the driver was from Minnesota. Charges are pending against the driver.

Emergency crews from Nesquehoning Hose Company, Hauto Fire Company, Nesquehoning Ambulance and Nesquehoning police worked in rainy conditions to extricate the driver, who was still inside the cab when personnel arrived. A helicopter was called, but placed on standby.

Nesquehoning Hose Company Fire Chief John McArdle said that the rig, after running off the ramp, continued with enough force to have the cab portion of the truck jump a hole before stopping between the trees.

Grass torn from the ground showed that the rig was still moving at a higher speed after the ramp ended.

Bryce Hunsicker of Lehighton, who was traveling up Route 93 on his way to Hazleton, saw the truck traveling at a high rate of speed.

"We saw him coming flying down the road and thought he was going all the way down," Hunsicker said. "We turned around and then saw the truck past the ramp and called 911."

The Broad Mountain can be a truck driver's nightmare with its 9 percent grade as it winds 2 1/4 miles down before meeting a T-intersection with Route 209.

On Thursday, a tractor-trailer carrying eight brand new Jeeps came barreling down the mountain after failing to stop at the designated truck pull off and rolled, causing extensive damage to the vehicles it was transporting, and gouged deep marks into the asphalt of Route 209. The driver, from Rhode Island, was not injured.

On Friday, a rig, driven by a New Jersey man, also failed to stop at the top of the hill and lost his brakes. This time, he came across the Route 209 intersection and slammed into a shed owned by Dennis Creitz on East Catawissa Street before hitting the mountain. The driver was also not injured.

State police at Fern Ridge will inspect the rigs, which were towed by Zenier Towing in Hazleton to a secure location, to see if any other violations contributed to the crashes. Charges will then be filed against the three drivers.

Police are concerned that this is becoming more common and are working with state officials to try and find a solution.

On Friday, Nesquehoning police Chief Sean Smith said that he would like to see all truck traffic banned from Route 93 because of the steep incline.

Smith also said that the problem lies with out-of-area rig drivers, who don't realize just how steep the hill is and fail to listen to the dozens of warning markers before the hill.

Until a solution is found, police have been stepping up patrols on top of the Broad Mountain in the hopes of stopping trucks who don't stop at the designated area before they turn into another statistic.