Butler County man dies after 2 garbage trucks collide in Adams Township

A Waste Management truck driver died on Friday after colliding with another garbage truck and hitting a building in Butler County.

David Bortmes, 53, of Karns City, died of injuries he sustained during the crash, which was reported shortly after 5 a.m. in the 400 block of Mars-Valencia Road in Adams Township.

The truck slammed into the Miller Screen & Design Co. building after it was hit, according to a county 911 dispatcher.

Bortmes had to be extricated from the truck and was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

A visitation will be held from noon to 2 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday at Hile Funeral Home in Karns City, according to an obituary posted online.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday at the funeral home.

Waste Management is working with local authorities in Adams Township, according to a statement from company spokeswoman Erika Deyarmin Young.

“This is a heartbreaking incident and our deepest sympathies go out to those affected, their loved ones and our WM family,” Young said via email.

The driver of the other garbage truck, a Vogel Disposal Service truck, was taken to the hospital to be checked out, Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV reported.

After the crash, the Butler County Structural Response Team was dispatched to the scene to survey the damage, authorities said.

Mars-Valencia Road was closed between Babcock Boulevard and Route 228 while authorities cleared the scene and an accident reconstruction team investigated the cause of the wreck.

Friday morning’s crash was the second involving a garbage truck in the past three weeks.

On Aug. 2, a garbage truck driver from Delmont died after the truck he was operating rolled over and crashed into three houses in Wilmerding.

On June 15, a Pittsburgh garbage truck rolled onto its side outside a home along Beckham Street in the city’s Brighton Heights neighborhood.