Cattle Loose on I-84

Everything is a-okay now, but it could have been disastrous. An accident on I-84 east of Boise set 42 cows loose on the freeway this morning. 

It happened about 1:30 this morning in the westbound lanes of I-84 at milepost 77 which is 13 miles west of Mountain Home.

When the semi-truck hauling the cattle crashed, they started wandering out onto the highway and officers became very concerned for two reasons. First off, it was dark and secondly the speed limit is 80 mph. Cars driving at a high rate of speed, in the dark, and coming upon wandering cattle could easily be deadly. I can't imagine approaching such a scene. I would completely freak out.

Although another crash did not ensue, eight cattle did have to be euthanized for reasons unknown and then a local rancher corraled up a couple dozen of the cows away from the scene.

Some of the cattle were stuck in the trailer and it's unclear if those were some of the cows that had to be euthanized or not.

According to KTVB, all lanes of traffic have re-opened and the driver of the semi is just fine so that's good news.

Tragedy avoided, for the most part, this morning and we are grateful for that.