--- title: Syrup Spill on Vermont Highway Leaves Sticky Situation description: The contents of a barrel of maple syrup left the roadway enough of a mess that it had to be shut down to traffic. canonical: https://time.com/4663224/vermont-syrup-spill/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-07T23:01:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:40:54.753Z og:title: Syrup Spill on Vermont Highway Leaves Sticky Situation og:description: The accident required the help of firefighters for cleanup. og:url: https://time.com/4663224/vermont-syrup-spill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Syrup Spill on Vermont Highway Leaves Sticky Situation twitter:description: The accident required the help of firefighters for cleanup. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Maple Syrup Spill on Vermont Highway Leaves Drivers in Sticky Situation  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Feb 7, 2017 11:01 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Feb 7, 2017 11:01 PM UTC Vermont found itself in a particularly sticky—and Vermont-like—situation on Monday, when a [barrel of maple syrup](http://time.com/3958051/history-of-maple-syrup/?iid=sr-link1) fell of a truck and emptied onto a highway just south of the Canadian border, [USA Today reports](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/02/06/bring-pancakes-maple-syrup-spill-covers-vermont-highway/97576592/). The sweet spillage was problematic enough that local police closed down the roadway and brought in the authorities. No, not hungry locals with a sweet tooth for syrup: instead, the fire department reported to the interstate to assist in cleaning up the maple-made mess. > [](https://twitter.com/VTStatePolice/status/828715858499424256) Luckily, they were able to make quick headway on the natural sweetener cleanup, and reopened the highway shortly afterward for through-traffic. No word on whether they were able to save some of the free syrup or got compensated with samples of the precious cargo, although we’d guess they were craving pancakes in the morning. > [](https://twitter.com/VTStatePolice/status/828717092987879425) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4663224/vermont-syrup-spill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4663224/vermont-syrup-spill/"},"headline":"Maple Syrup Spill on Vermont Highway Leaves Drivers in Sticky Situation","datePublished":"2017-02-07T23:01:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:40:54.753Z","description":"The accident required the help of firefighters for cleanup.","url":"https://time.com/4663224/vermont-syrup-spill/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Bizarre"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4663224/vermont-syrup-spill/","name":"Maple Syrup Spill on Vermont Highway Leaves Drivers in Sticky Situation"}}]}] ```