Trash truck spills load in northwest Fresno

Driver error was blamed for a city recycling truck spilling part of its load on a residential street late Tuesday morning in northwest Fresno.

According to the city’s solid-waste division, the truck was making its rounds near the intersection of Blythe and Salinas avenues, near the Fig Garden Loop, when the operator pushed the wrong button on the controls of the truck’s hydraulic systems. A photo taken by a passer-by showed that the back gate of the truck had popped open at the bottom, loosing a modest pile of recyclables like paper, plastic, glass and cans onto the pavement. A city spokesman said there are two buttons that control the hydraulics, one right next to the other.

By early Tuesday afternoon, city crews were wrapping up their cleanup work at the site.

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 1:53 PM with the headline "Trash truck spills load in northwest Fresno."