Part of a Montgomery County highway was shut down Thursday after an 18-wheeler lost its load.

The big rig was carrying lumber when it tipped over shortly before 8 a.m. on state Highway 242 near Interstate 45.

Harry Williams was driving the 18-wheeler to Cleveland when he tried to make a right turn on the Interstate 45 feeder onto Highway 242.

Williams said he realized his load of lumber was top-heavy.

"It kind of leaned on me. I tried to turn it to straighten it up," Williams said.

"He tries to maneuver it and he can't. It just turns on his left side. He's trapped on the inside. He has to kick his way through a window to get out," said Eric Burse, a Texas state trooper.

"I didn't have no other way to get out. I couldn't climb up to get out on the top, so I had to kick the window out to get out on the driver's side," Williams said.

Sixty logs shot out of the back of the rig.

"It's probably abut 21 tons on the truck," Williams said.

"You're going to have a lot of traffic. How he missed everybody, I don't know. But he did," Burse said.

"Thank God, there wasn't nobody there," Williams said.

Texas Department of Public Safety officials said Williams may be cited.

It took emergency crews and hazmat more than three hours to clean up the spilled fuel and lumber. The roadway has since reopened.