Maine State Police said a Wednesday morning collision involving a dump truck and a pickup truck in Durham has left two people dead and two injured.
The crash was reported at 7:15 a.m. and temporarily shut down Route 9 in Durham.
According to Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland, troopers said the pickup exiting Rabbit Road struck the side of the dump truck.
The pickup caught fire, and passersby pulled out its three occupants.
Dead are Malakai Cawood, 21, of Limington and Brendon Harthorn, 24, of Cornish. Jeremy Reardon, 35, of Buxton was airlifted by LifeFlight to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston and is being treated for multiple injuries.
The three were employees of Plowman Construction of Gorham and headed to a job site in the area.
Troopers say they need to conduct more interviews before they can determine who was driving the 2003 Chevrolet pickup truck.
The dump truck’s driver, Clifton Larrabee, 42, of Durham was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland. The dump truck, which had fallen on its side, is owned by Larrabee Construction of Durham.
Larrabee was still in the overturned vehicle and had to be extricated when firefighters arrived, said Durham Fire Chief Bill St. Michel.
Larrabee is a longtime member of the volunteer fire department, St. Michel said. The department’s chaplain had been to visit Larrabee at the hospital, he said.
While learning one of their patients is a fellow firefighter doesn’t change their delivery of services, it can increase the pressure in an emergency, the fire chief said.
In some cases, particularly when new personnel are exposed to traumatic calls, the department will do some kind of debriefing.
“In this particular situation, we will probably monitor members and personnel very closely,” he said.
According to hospital representatives, both Reardon and Larrabee were in fair condition Wednesday afternoon.
St. Michel said the road, which was closed for several hours after the crash, reopened around 3 p.m.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
dmoore@timesrecord.com
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