BRANDON — Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer, marking the beginning of barbecue-and-beach season. But this year’s holiday was marred by tragedy in Brandon. Two separate motor-vehicle accidents claimed two lives.

Around 8 p.m. on Friday, May 26, a logging truck and a pickup collided on Route 7, near Lovers Lane. Both vehicles left the pavement and ended up down an embankment on the west side of the roadway, with the logging truck on top of the pickup. The collision caused overhead electrical wires to snap and fall onto the vehicles.

The driver of the logging truck was able to escape his vehicle, but the driver of the pickup, Alison Simmons, 21, of Burlington, was trapped. By the time power was cut to the fallen lines and first responders were able to get to Simmons, she had already died. Police did not release the names of driver until about a week after the tragic crash.

Just two days later, on Sunday, May 28, around 8:30 p.m., a motorcycle driven by Cory Munnett, 45, of Brandon crashed on Union Street, just north of Twin Oaks Road. Munnett apparently lost control of the motorcycle and went off the road. He did not survive. 

Police investigated for a week.

Brandon and Vermont State police were aided at the two crashes by the Brandon Fire Department, the Brandon Area Rescue Squad, and Green Mountain Power.