Rex McLaughlin was standing in the middle of Constitution Drive talking to a neighbor last Wednesday when he saw a runaway oil truck coming down the hill, no driver behind the wheel.

McLaughlin said he started towards the truck to possibly jump in and stop it, but he realized almost immediately that wasn’t possible. He yelled to his neighbor to get out of the street. They watched as the truck came down the street, gathering speed before slamming into a utility pole at the bottom of the hill.

“There wasn’t no way to stop it,” said McLaughlin. “That thing took off. It was probably doing 20 to 25 mph by the time it hit the pole.”

McLaughlin said he wasn’t sure what had happened, but he thought the brakes had gone out on the truck while the driver was preparing to pump oil at the top of the hill. He said he saw the the oil hose trailing behind the truck as it came.

McLaughlin said the impact made a loud pop. The truck snapped the pole in half and brought down the wires on the street. He said he could hear another popping sound when the street lamp on the pole hit the ground.

“You could hear the wires snapping,” he said.

Katherine McLaughlin was standing by the fence in her yard near her husband and neighbor. She said after the truck hit she looked up and saw the wires coming down on top of her. She started to run.

“Just like a movie, you start running,” she said. “‘Oh, my lord, I’m done for.'”

She said she dove down onto the grass. Two wires came down within a few feet on either side of her. One of the wires was the main power line and Westbrook firefighter Eric Beecher said he thought that line carried about 70,000 volts.

“That’s the one that was almost on my head,” Katherine McLaughlin said of her close call.

The pole hit by the truck was at the convergence of all the wires along Constitution Drive and Colony Road. The downed wires immediately caused a blackout in the neighborhood and even caused the traffic signal at the intersection of East Bridge Street and Route 302 to go out.

Westbrook firefighters and police responded to the accident and immediately told neighbors not to go anywhere near the wires or the truck, which also had downed wires lying on it. At least eight wires had come down.

Firefighter Shawn Theberg said the wires were all live and he and the other fire fighters were there to making sure people didn’t “wander in and touch things they’re not supposed to” until Central Maine Power could cut the power.

Gail Rice of Central Maine Power said the outage occurred at 4:20 p.m. and cut power to about 270 customers in the area. She said service was brought back to about 190 of those customers by 5:30 p.m. and the rest shortly before 10 p.m. She said it is not uncommon to have wires down when there’s an accident of this type. The power company has to turn off the power to be able to fix the pole or replace it.

“Whenever there’s a case like this, the safety of the public and employees is our main concern,” she said.

“Fortunately it hit the pole. Otherwise it would have been in that guy’s living room,” McLaughlin said of his neighbor at the bottom of the hill.

The truck belonged to A. Pinette and Son Inc. in Westbrook. Calls to the business were not returned as of press time.

McLaughlin said he felt sorry for the truck’s owner. “He’s a good guy. He works hard trying to make a living,” he said.

Rex McLaughlin was standing in the middle of Constitution Drive talking to a neighbor last Wednesday when he saw a runaway oil truck coming down the hill, no driver behind the wheel.

McLaughlin said he started towards the truck to possibly jump in and stop it, but he realized almost immediately that wasn’t possible. He yelled to his neighbor to get out of the street. They watched as the truck came down the street, gathering speed before slamming into a utility pole at the bottom of the hill.

“There wasn’t no way to stop it,” said McLaughlin. “That thing took off. It was probably doing 20 to 25 mph by the time it hit the pole.”

McLaughlin said he wasn’t sure what had happened, but he thought the brakes had gone out on the truck while the driver was preparing to pump oil at the top of the hill. He said he saw the the oil hose trailing behind the truck as it came.

McLaughlin said the impact made a loud pop. The truck snapped the pole in half and brought down the wires on the street. He said he could hear another popping sound when the street lamp on the pole hit the ground.

“You could hear the wires snapping,” he said.

Katherine McLaughlin was standing by the fence in her yard near her husband and neighbor. She said after the truck hit she looked up and saw the wires coming down on top of her. She started to run.

“Just like a movie, you start running,” she said. “‘Oh, my lord, I’m done for.'”

She said she dove down onto the grass. Two wires came down within a few feet on either side of her. One of the wires was the main power line and Westbrook firefighter Eric Beecher said he thought that line carried about 70,000 volts.

“That’s the one that was almost on my head,” Katherine McLaughlin said of her close call.

The pole hit by the truck was at the convergence of all the wires along Constitution Drive and Colony Road. The downed wires immediately caused a blackout in the neighborhood and even caused the traffic signal at the intersection of East Bridge Street and Route 302 to go out.

Westbrook firefighters and police responded to the accident and immediately told neighbors not to go anywhere near the wires or the truck, which also had downed wires lying on it. At least eight wires had come down.

Firefighter Shawn Theberg said the wires were all live and he and the other fire fighters were there to making sure people didn’t “wander in and touch things they’re not supposed to” until Central Maine Power could cut the power.

Gail Rice of Central Maine Power said the outage occurred at 4:20 p.m. and cut power to about 270 customers in the area. She said service was brought back to about 190 of those customers by 5:30 p.m. and the rest shortly before 10 p.m. She said it is not uncommon to have wires down when there’s an accident of this type. The power company has to turn off the power to be able to fix the pole or replace it.

“Whenever there’s a case like this, the safety of the public and employees is our main concern,” she said.

“Fortunately it hit the pole. Otherwise it would have been in that guy’s living room,” McLaughlin said of his neighbor at the bottom of the hill.

The truck belonged to A. Pinette and Son Inc. in Westbrook. Calls to the business were not returned as of press time.

McLaughlin said he felt sorry for the truck’s owner. “He’s a good guy. He works hard trying to make a living,” he said.