By Jeff Delong, Reno Gazette-Journal

Faulty brakes were likely responsible for the fiery June crash of a lumber truck that launched off the end of a runaway truck ramp and into a Lake Tahoe home, according to a report by the Nevada Highway Patrol.

While much of the truck’s wreckage was burned beyond the point of effective examination, experts did determine “at least one set of the brakes on the trailer were insufficient” to safely descend the steep Mount Rose Highway, members of the NHP’s Major Accident Investigation Team concluded.

Faulty brakes likely led to a semi plowing into this Incline house in June. Photo/Kathryn Reed

“With the brakes that we could actually examine, there were problems,” said Trooper Eric Gallagher, who investigated the accident that killed 41-year-old Frederick Douglas Matthews and destroyed an Incline Village home.

“That was probably the main cause of it — insufficient braking,” Gallagher said. “A heavy truck like that can get serious momentum going down a hill like that.”

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