Five people were killed in four accidents blamed mostly on freezing rain and light snow that swept across the state Friday and Saturday, police said.
An accident in Gardiner killed two men, and three other crashes – in Bowdoin, Edinburg and Cornville – each killed one person, police said.
Additional Photos
As much as a quarter of an inch of ice built up in some areas, according to the National Weather Service in Gray. The icy conditions caused dozens of other accidents in Cumberland and York counties and around the state, and also caused several power outages, authorities said Saturday.
“Roads are icy, and as it cools off I’m sure we’re going to have more accidents,” Augusta Police Sgt. Richard Dubois said Saturday afternoon. “People need to drive with due regard.”
In Gardiner, two men died and a third was injured when their van crashed about 8 a.m. Saturday on ice-covered Brunswick Avenue leading to Interstate 295.
Dennis Kay, 62, of Gardiner and Carlton Norwood, 25, of Pittston were partially ejected when the cargo van they were riding in skidded out of control and rolled over before landing on its side in a ditch, said Gardiner Police Chief James Toman. Kay and Norwood died at the scene, Toman said.
“It would appear they were not wearing their seat belts,” he said. “Had they been wearing their seat belts, they probably would still be alive.”
A third man, Thomas Bourque, 29, of Randolph, was taken by ambulance to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. A section of Brunswick Avenue – U.S. Route 201 – was closed for about three hours as police investigated, Toman said. Police have not determined who was driving.
“It appears due to icy road conditions and speed the driver lost control and crossed the opposite lane into the ditch,” Toman said.
A 21-year-old man was killed about 11 p.m. Friday on West Ridge Road in Cornville when the 2010 Cheverolet pickup truck he was driving went off the road, struck a utility pole and a small trailer parked in a private driveway, and flipped over.
The driver, Joseph T. Faucher-Kuhlman of Cornville, who also was not wearing a seat belt, was pinned underneath the truck and pronounced dead at the scene, according to a news release issued by Detective Lt. Carl Gottardi of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office. There were no passengers.
The exact cause of the accident is still under investigation, Gottardi said.
Police dispatchers also confirmed that one person was killed Saturday afternoon when a vehicle hit a tree on Route 201 in Bowdoin. Andrew Klaiber, 45, of Topsham was pronounced dead at the scene, the Sagadahoc Sheriff’s Office reported.
Klaiber was driving a 2005 Chevy Blazer south when the SUV went off the road, down an embankment and struck a tree, reported Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry.
Witnessses following the vehicle saw it moving erratically before it left the road, Merry said. The crash doesn’t appear to have been caused by ice on the road or by excessive speed or alcohol, he said. The accident is under investigation.
A 60-year-old woman died after a crash Saturday afternoon in the northbound lane of Interstate 95 near mile 213 in Edinburg, north of Old Town.
The woman was a passenger in the car, said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine State Police. McCausland said the driver may have lost control while passing another vehicle. The crash was still under investigation at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Police on Saturday responded to a number of other less serious crashes throughout southern and central Maine, some of which caused injuries.
The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office reported 15 to 20 cars off the road, and Portland police reported 10 accidents that damaged vehicles within 40 minutes, said Portland Officer Mark Keller. In Westbrook there were eight to 10 accidents, police reported.
About 25 cars slid off the road in York County, according to the regional dispatch office. Franklin County sheriffs office reported seven accidents.
A truck rolled over in icy conditions near Route 9 and Middle Road in Falmouth on Saturday, spilling about 70 gallons of fuel.
The driver was not injured, and traffic was not delayed, police said.
A Saturday evening rollover in Lebanon left two teenagers in Goodall Hospital in Sanford with apparently non-life threatening injuries, said Lebanon Assistant Chief Jason Cole.
Their 2009 Hyundai Accent rolled about five times and landed on top of a rock, Cole said.
The driver was a 17-year-old North Berwick girl, and her passenger was a 16-year-old girl from Lebanon, he said.
Today’s weather is expected to be partly sunny and about 10 degrees warmer statewide, reaching into the mid-40s in many areas, with showers arriving tonight, according to a National Weather Service forecast.
The temperatures are expected to plummet by Monday night, but there is still no snow forecast anytime soon, said Mike Ekster, lead forecaster with the Weather Service in Gray.
“An Arctic front Monday night will come down from Canada bringing probably the coldest air of the season Monday through Wednesday,” said Ekster. “By Thursday the cold air will move out, but it will be back in the mid-20s. That’s normal for this time of year. What’s kind of out of the ordinary is no snow anywhere.
“It doesn’t look good for the accumulation of snow,” he said.
– Maine Sunday Telegram Staff Writer Beth Quimby contributed to this report.
Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:
dfleming@mainetoday.com
Morning Sentinel Staff Writer Ben McCanna can be contacted at 861-9239 or at:
bmccanna@mainetoday.com
Kennebec Journal Staff Writer Craig Crosby can be contacted at 621-5642 or at:
ccrosby@mainetoday.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.