**BREAKING: TOOTHPASTE APOCALYPSE STRIKES ASHEVILLE, NC**
In a bizarre incident that has left residents scratching their heads and slipping their way to safety, a major road in Asheville, North Carolina was shut down yesterday evening after a tanker truck carrying a gigantic load of toothpaste and sawdust crashed, spilling its sticky, minty-fresh contents all over the highway.
The mess, described by eyewitnesses as a “tsunami of toothpaste” and a “sawdusty slick of doom,” prompted emergency crews to rush to the scene, armed with mops, brooms, and a hazmat team.
“It was like a scene from a cartoon,” said local resident, Jane Doe. “I was driving home from work and suddenly I was sliding around like I was on a giant Slip ‘N Slide. I thought I was going to end up in the nearby French Broad River!”
The North Carolina Department of Transportation reported that the tanker truck, which was hauling over 10,000 gallons of toothpaste and 5,000 pounds of sawdust, suffered a blown tire, causing the contents to spill all over the road.
“It was a real ‘minty-fresh’ mess,” said NCDOT spokesperson, Bob Smith. “We’re just lucky no one was seriously hurt. Although, we did have to evacuate the area due to the overwhelming smell of peppermint and the risk of people slipping and falling.”
Crews worked through the night to clean up the mess, using a combination of sand, salt, and elbow grease to scrub the road clean. The road was reopened several hours later, but not before the hashtag #ToothpasteGate was trending on social media.
As one resident quipped, “Only in Asheville, where the roads are slippery, but the smiles are free!”
