FREEPORT — A 78-year old Gorham man died as a result of a head-on collision with a second vehicle Wednesday night as he was driving the wrong way on Interstate 295 southbound in Freeport.
The Maine State Police reported this morning that Daniel Cressey Sr., 78, of Gorham, died at the scene when the car he was driving struck a second car head-on around 7 p.m. That car was driven by Mary Warner, 58, of Holden.
Cressey died instantly, according to a press release issued by the Maine Department of Public Safety.
A Freeport Rescue crew took Warner to Maine Medical in Portland for treatment of multiple injuries that police described as non-life threatening. A hospital spokeswoman reported that Warner is in satisfactory condition this morning.
The crash occurred in the southbound lane approximately two miles north of the Mallet Drive exit, according to the press release.
As a result of the crash, police closed the highway’s southbound lanes between Brunswick and Freeport for almost two hours, backing traffic up into Brunswick. One lane reopened at about 9 p.m.
A team of Maine State Police troopers continue to investigate the crash and how Cressey ended up driving in the wrong lane. Police suspect that Cressey entered the interstate from Mallet Drive in Freeport, and then drove north for about two miles in the southbound lane, avoiding collisions with several other vehicles until the crash occurred.
Deputy Chief Paul Conley of the Freeport Fire and Rescue Department said the crash occurred near Mile Marker 24. The department responded with two ambulances and two fire engines to light the scene and provide support.
Conley estimated that a dozen of his department’s personnel responded to the scene. Each engine is equipped with flood lights, which helped light the scene while State Police investigated the crash.
Rescue workers used heavy rescue tools to extricate Warner from her vehicle and to remove Cressey’s body from his vehicle.
Firefighters worked to contain fluids that leaked from the vehicles after the crash, striving to minimize the environmental impact and to ensure that the leak did not create hazardous driving conditions.
Conley said the decision to close both lanes of the interstate was “based on what is required of us to safely take care of the injured parties, protect the scene, protect our crew and provide a safe working environment, as well as protecting the evidence of an accident reconstruction.”
Freeport fire and rescue personnel cleared the scene shortly after 9 p.m., Conley said. The department’s chaplain checked in with each of them as they returned to the station, and is there “to take care of our emotional well being,” Conley said, in the aftermath of responding to a fatality.
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