KENNEBUNK — Two truck drivers were hospitalized and a dog was killed after a fiery crash in the Kennebunk Service Plaza Saturday night that destroyed two tractor-trailers, state police said.

Don Johnson, 78, of East Corinth was driving into the rest stop when he crashed into a parked tractor-trailer, injuring driver Myles Whynot, 58, of Quispamsis, New Brunswick, according the the Maine State Police.

Johnson may have had a diabetic seizure while driving into the plaza on the northbound side of the Maine Turnpike around 8:30 p.m., said state police spokesman Steve McCausland.

Johnson was taken to a hospital in Biddeford to be treated for that condition, said McCausland. He said Johnson and Whynot, who was also taken to the Biddeford hospital, suffered cuts and bruises.

McCausland said Johnson’s truck caught fire after its diesel fuel tanks ruptured.

People in the parking lot helped Johnson get out of the truck before flames engulfed it, but a dog that was riding with him died, McCausland said.

The fire was under control and extinguished by about 9 p.m., said Maine Turnpike Authority spokesman Dan Morin. He said the plaza was not evacuated and traffic was able to flow in and out.

McCausland said the Kennebunk Fire Department and state police responded to the scene.

He said Whynot’s flatbed truck was carrying a plow assembly and Johnson’s truck was not hauling anything.


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