A head-on collision between a pickup truck and tractor-trailer carrying chicken cages left one person dead and closed a busy highway in north Forsyth for several hours Friday.

According to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, 43-year-old Peter Trione of Fairhope Lane died at the scene of the wreck, which occurred about 7:30 a.m. at Hwy. 369 and Hubert Martin Road.

According to Sheriff’s Investigator Ron Tomblin, the eastbound 2007 Ford F150 truck that Trione was driving left the highway for unknown reasons.

When it came back on the road, the truck crossed into the westbound lane and struck a tractor-trailer, Tomblin said.

It was then pushed into the driveway of a home, while the tractor-trailer came to rest in a pasture on the other side of the road.

Tomblin said the tractor-trailer, owned by Mountain Milk of Gainesville, was driven by a 52-year-old Dahlonega man. It was not hauling live chickens, as it usually does, just empty cages.

Fire Division Chief Jason Shivers said Trione was dead when emergency personnel arrived, adding that the tractor-trailer driver was taken to Northside Hospital-Forsyth “with minor injuries … he just had some minor bruises.”

The fire department’s hazardous material unit was called out to handle chemicals leaking from both vehicles.

“There was a significant release of fluids from both vehicles,” Shivers said. “Approximately 200 gallons of diesel fuel, motor oil, antifreeze and various other fluids from the two vehicles were both on the roadway and on the right of way on both sides of the highway. We were able to stop the leaks.”

During the cleanup, traffic was diverted onto Bannister and Hendrix Roads. The road reopened about 10:30 a.m.