(Editor's note William J. Boettinger, 60, of Danielsville, was killed Monday when the waste truck he was driving plowed into a vehicle stopped in a construction zone on Interstate 80 in Scott Township, Columbia County. The accident happened at 1:10 p.m. Five vehicles were involved.

State police said in their report that Boettinger "was following too close."The following is an account of the incident, reprinted with permission from the Bloomsburg Press-Enterprise newspaper)By KRISTIN BAVERPress Enterprise WriterBLOOMSBURG Witnesses said a truck driver didn't even hit the brakes before slamming into the back of a stopped tractor-trailer on Interstate 80 on Monday.State police spent hours trying to piece together the deadly 1:10 p.m. wreck, which completely shut down a section of the highway and tangled traffic for more than eight hours.In all, one person was killed and five vehicles were damaged at the Lightstreet exit.Michael Catchings, 35, was headed to Butler in his Sojourner Trucking Co. rig after dropping off a shipment of bookshelves in New Jersey.Stopped traffic ahead of him forced him to come to a halt in the right lane, he said.He didn't see the roll-off waste hauler behind him, but he heard the loud "boom" as it careened into the back of his trailer. The force of the crash was so violent that Catchings' driver's seat broke as he was jolted forward, then backward, he said.The impact forced his rig over into the left-hand lane, plowing into the back of a small black car and forcing a white GMC SUV off the road. The rig, with "Jesus Saves" painted on the cab, and the SUV sat badly damaged in the grassy median.'Hold on!'Catchings jumped out of his passenger side and scrambled to help the other motorists involved.Another large truck driven by Bill Wright, 29, Downingtown, ended up on its side, possibly while maneuvering to avoid the collision. Catchings saw Wright climbing out of the top of his sideways rig.Meanwhile, Mike Sones, 46, Turbotville, and Chris Hopkins, 52, San Diego, were stopped in their big rigs about 90 yards behind the crash.Hopkins said he heard the crunch of metal and saw smoke erupting from a small oil fire on one of the vehicles.A woman, who later disappeared from the scene, yelled to the two men to grab fire extinguishers in case a blaze erupted. Sones said she was then heard yelling at the waste-truck driver: "Just hold on!"Traffic nightmareBut emergency responders didn't get the chance to cut that driver from his mangled cab; a blue tarp was draped across the front of the truck.Chief Deputy Columbia County Coroner Linda Kessler confirmed one man, William J. Boettinger, had died.The waste truck's crinkled door was marked Horwith Trucks. It's a Northampton-based firm that hauls hazardous waste, according to its website.I-80 westbound was closed from Lime Ridge to Lightstreet, reducing interstate traffic to a crawl for miles. The detoured traffic also clogged Route 11 in the Bloomsburg and Berwick areas for most of the day.I-80 was reopened about 9:30 p.m.Kristin Baver can be reached at

kristin.baver@pressenterprise.net or 570-387-1234 ext. 1310. Follow her at

www.twitter.com/KristinBaver.