A Durham man, pinned in his dump truck after an early morning crash on Route 9 that killed two occupants of a pickup truck on Wednesday, Sept. 21, is recovering from his injuries at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

A crew from Durham Fire & Rescue pulled Clifton “C.J.” Larrabee, 42, out of his truck, which was lying on its side. Larrabee, a member of the rescue unit, had facial abrasions and possible shoulder and leg injuries, said Fire Chief William St. Michel, who was first at the scene.

Two occupants of the pickup truck that plowed into Larrabee’s vehicle – 21-year-old Malakai Cawood of Limington and Brendan Hathorn, 24, of Cornish – died as their pickup burst into flames. The third occupant, 35-year-old Jeremy Reardon of Buxton, was listed in good condition last Thursday at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation by Maine State Police.

Larrabee was headed to a job site in North Yarmouth. He is the son of Deb Larrabee, a former Tri-Town Weekly correspondent, and her husband Clifton Larrabee Sr. Authorities say the crash occurred at 7:15 a.m., when the pickup pulled out from Runaround Pond Road straight onto Road 9, on its way to Rabbit Road, which intersects Route 9 on the other side.

The three men in the pickup truck, working for Plowman Constructon of Gorham, were headed to a job site in Brunswick.

St. Michel said that Runaround Pond Road, though rural, is a common route taken by people heading from the Gray-New Gloucester area to the midcoast area.

“It is a very heavily traveled route during the morning rush hour,” St. Michel said. “It’s a gateway to Brunswick, and a straight shot.”

Larrabee, a 1992 graduate of Brunswick High School, joined the company he and his father run right out of high school. He was a teenager when he joined Durham Fire & Rescue as a junior firefighter.

“C.J. Is a great guy,” St. Michel said. “I don’t know of anybody in the department who does not like C.J.”

Clifton “C.J.” Larrabee