A Brunswick man escaped serious injury Tuesday afternoon when the car he was driving plowed through a guardrail along Interstate 295 southbound near mile marker 39, not far from the Bowdoinham exit.

Bowdoinham, Bowdoin and Richmond fire departments were called to the single-vehicle crash at 12:54 p.m. for a possible car fire after the vehicle struck a guardrail along the passing lane.

Trooper Christopher Rogers said Kenneth Johnson, 50, of Brunswick, works the night shift and fell asleep at the wheel while driving home from Waterville, and drove off the side of the road into the guardrail along the passing lane.

The impact peeled back approximately 50 feet of guardrail. Rogers said Johnson had his seat belt on, and both airbags deployed in the car.

Firefighters on scene said they were told some truckers passing by stopped and extinguished a fire in the engine with fire extinguishers; firefighters then sprayed the engine down with water and foam when they arrived. The hood was torn off the car and landed between some trees in the wooded median.

Rogers said Johnson was wearing his seat belt and walked away with minor injuries. No charges are expected.

Traffic was reduced to one lane for a time during the afternoon.

“Seat belts save lives,” Rogers said.

dmoore@timesrecord.com

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