A truck that paints lane lines on highways ran off U.S. Highway 64 near Spring Hope on Monday night, killing one person and setting some woods on fire, authorities said.
The crash occurred at about 7 p.m. near mile marker 444, and the State Highway Patrol shut down all eastbound lanes. Authorities said a 40-year-old man, the only person in the truck when it crashed, died.
The crash sparked a fire in the woods along the highway, but firefighters called to the scene quickly put it out, authorities said.
The state Department of Transportation said the driver worked for Clark Pavement Marking Inc. of Apex, which had a contract for paving and restriping in eastern North Carolina.
He was en route to a work site when the truck crashed.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
The highway reopened around 3:30 a.m.