Truck Driver Hits House; Heart Attack Blamed : Accident: Sanitation worker dies during last leg of his route. No one is in the home at time of the crash.

A 48-year-old trash-truck driver died Thursday of an apparent heart attack, causing the truck to careen out of control and smash headlong into the living room of a house.

No one was in the house when the accident occurred shortly after 12:30 p.m. near Shirley Street and Dia Avenue. Two police officers underwent treatment for smoke inhalation, but no other injuries were reported, police said.

The driver was identified by family and co-workers as Rodney Brereton of Westminster. Authorities said he apparently suffered a fatal heart attack while he was on the last leg of his route.

“He was the No. 1 driver as far as any of his friends was concerned,” said Brereton’s grief-stricken brother, Paul, 41. “They (co-workers) are really going to miss him in a big way.

“I’m in a daze right now. It hasn’t really hit me yet.”

Brereton was pronounced dead at the scene, Westminster Police Detective Al Brackett said. The exact cause of death will be determined after an autopsy scheduled for today.

Brereton, a 22-year veteran with the Midway City Sanitation District, had driven south to the end of Janice Street, where it joins Dia Avenue. As his co-worker stood on the street and directed Brereton to make a U-turn, the truck suddenly lurched forward and began to pick up speed along Dia Avenue.

Witnesses said the truck rolled more than 100 yards, knocking trash cans into the air and smashing into a silver Toyota Celica, which skidded across the street.

The truck continued toward the intersection of Dia Avenue and Shirley Street, jumped a curb, crushed a low cement wall and plowed into a brown, single-story house at the end of Shirley Street.

“I heard a boom and saw oodles and oodles of smoke,” said Donna Maria Marallo, 25, a resident of the neighborhood. “The smoke just went pouring through everywhere. I thought the house was on fire.”

Coeli Menzes, who lives three houses from where the accident occurred, said that when she heard the crash, she called 911 and ran outside. Noticing the thick black smoke, Menzes then grabbed a neighbor’s garden hose and began watering down the truck’s rear tires, which were smoking.

Believing that an elderly woman may have been in the house, Menzes ran around to a side door and into the house, which was darkened by thick smoke. She frantically looked through several rooms but found no one.

Menzes was finally driven out of the house by the smoke just as police officers Bob Trotter and Brian Sawyer arrived. The officers were later treated at a local hospital for smoke inhalation, Brackett said.

The owners of the damaged house arrived at the scene several hours later. They declined to comment or give their names.

A California Highway Patrol officer was called to the scene to inspect the truck to determine if there had been any mechanical failure. A preliminary investigation showed that Brereton had not used his brakes, suggesting that he may have suffered a heart attack, said CHP Officer Lye Whitten.

Throughout the afternoon, dozens of onlookers watched police and fire officials as they investigated the accident.

“It’s sad,” said Alene Asbury, who lives across the street from the accident scene. “It could have been worse if the kids were getting home from school.”

Brereton is survived by his wife, Joanne, and a 12-year-old daughter, Jamie.