Northbound traffic was snarled Sunday afternoon along Interstate 295 in Brunswick when a car fire near Exit 28 caused seven other vehicles to crash in two separate incidents as they slowed approaching the blaze, Maine State Police said.

Trooper Andre Paradis was called to the car fire about 3:45 p.m., but before he could attend to the flaming vehicle he was redirected to a five-car pile-up south of the fire.

But Paradis would make an unscheduled stop before he arrived at either emergency – as he traveled north, he came upon on a two-car accident.

“People were slowing down, and sometimes when it comes to a stop, when one person doesn’t stop in time, it (becomes) a chain reaction,” Paradis said. “Out of the seven cars that were involved, five were totaled.”

No one was injured, however, and the crashes were cleared a short time later, Paradis said.


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