Great picture and thankfully he did not kill himself.

It is also a very bad location to have to shut down route 1 as you cannot reroute traffic around that point. There is no way to get people around that location with a simple detour.

It sucks to get stuck in that sort of a mess and not move. Been there and done that many times. I bet the folks at Tideway did some good business from those that bailed if they could and sat it out at their location.

downeastdave the article says some were stuck for 2 hours....you got of easy....:) Last time I was stuck at an accident for two hours was a few years back on the lower end of the Jersey Pike....don't miss those days a bit kevin....

Are there not some local bars in Hancock you can go to if traffic is expected to be tied-up for so long? Let's see...Hmmmmm, one hour = 4 beers. Two hours, maybe 6 beers and something to eat. Maybe watch a football game or something, too, while you're there!

Where is Bill Trotter from? Creek? Brooks, streams and rivers but no creeks in Maine.

otter creek, is 1 that comes to mind. and i'm sure there are more.

The real story is the over reaction to this single vehicle accident. Fire trucks from 3 towns? A LifeFlight helicopter when there was no serious injuries? What was the total cost of this response? $20,000. Where is common sense? Where is responsible management? Where is the investigative reporter?

Overreaction Rabbott? As one of the initial first responders on scene, I can assure you that there were the appropriate amount of personnel on-scene. What the photo above does not show was the fact that the driver was upside down, unconscious, and trapped in his vehicle in the water. Until the driver was cut out of his vehicle, we had no way of assessing his injuries. We had multiple departments there providing traffic control, which was a job in itself for those familiar with the location. The truck was leaking fuel, and garbage/personal effects from the vehicle were floating downstream. For those environmentally conscious folks out there, I'm sure you understand our need for cleaning that up. Rabbott, look carefully at that photo and notice the intrusion into the driver compartment. I am glad this individual apparently will be okay.

Rabbott, my suggestion would be for you to join your volunteer department. Or better yet: become an investigative reporter yourself. Just make sure you are one of the first on-scene though. Get the facts first hand and understand the situation from a first hand point of view...not as a "Monday Morning Quarterback" reading the story online.

For all of you that were actually there getting dirty on your day off and saving a life, Kudos. You guys/gals did great!

Thanks MaineEMT.

Hey maine EMT Rabbot is allowed to have an opinion i dont think he was out of line. This is the 2nd accident within the last couple months in maine where Life flight was used but no serious injuries were reported. That makes me a little upset as a Maine Taxpayer, as a first responder you call them as you see them. Better to have to much help then not enough. Hope Lifeflight is there if i ever have a serious accident but we shouldnt hear about lifeflight so much.

Drive safe Mainers!

Right one Maine EMT! Rabbot until you walk a mile in their boots; you will have no clue.

Maine_Taxpayer:

First of all, I welcome everyones opinion. I was just pointing out the obvious ignorance in Rabbott's statement. Secondly, you are right. I wish Life Flight never had to be called. Regardless of "How we call it" on scene, Maine EMS protocols dictate that Life Flight is to be called any time there is an extrication that exceeds 30 minutes. I think we can all agree it took us a little longer than that to get him out. As a tax payer myself, I wish being a member of my local volunteer department and local ambulance service (I name neither because I do not speak on their behalf), did nothing more than attend monthly meetings and host barbeques. However, sadly, we are way too busy. As a tax payer, I hope you do all you can in your town meetings to support your local volunteer department, as if you are ever in need, they will be the first to get to you.

Holy Crap .... and "no serious injuries" ... amazing

MaineEMT-1 Rabott-0

Right one Maine EMT! Rabbot until you walk a mile in their boots; you will have no clue from caveman.......could have not said any better.

I can assure if Lifeflight was called for accident involved with Rabbot......he would prob be more worried about the cost of the incident vs the goal of trying to remove him from the wreckage and getting him to the hosp. I guess to save money, rabbott...carry some tools, can opener to perform your own extrication...good luck.

Over reaction? Rabbott, when you are tires up in a body of water, gasoline leaking all around you, make sure you notify the town to just send one rescue vehicle. You wouldnt want them to spend too much money trying to save your life. Common sense? Well that is not believing everything you read in the newspaper because his injuries were serious enough for the lifeflight crew to intubate him.

I was actually stuck in that traffic too...had to wait at least a good half hour... about an hour and a half after it had happened...I'm ok though even if a little inconvenienced unlike what that man is going through plus his family and friends. As to you people who are questioning and complaining about your tax dollars going towards what you think might be over-reaction to the team effort that when out to respond to that accident...if had been one of your own loved one in that vehicle, I bet you would never even imagine there being too much response! Shame on you! And CUDOS to all the emergency response teams everywhere...nobody ever thanks you enough!

I think Rabott has lost this round.!

I was headed home when this happened. I came upon the Washington Junction Rd. and noticed traffic at a stand still and people standing outside there cars......So, I decided I would go around, through Eastbrook....It took me maybe 15 mins longer to get home....and I didn't have to sit in traffic.... So to all y'all who had to sit in traffic....sucks to be you....maybe instead of complaining about having to sit in traffic you should have just took the long way around....

Heavy Chevy.

meweston: I am with you and was thinking the same thing.

It seems that our society has become so self-serving , self-centered and COLD hearted. Stuck in traffic and only worried about getting where you want to go. How about giving thought to the person who is in the life threaten situation? Maybe at the same time you are thinking about just yourself, that other person is dieing a slow painful death.

It would be nice to believe that some of the people that are held up in line are lifting this person or persons up in prayer. What would you want if it were you or your loved one? I would hope you are never in this situation, nor your loved ones.

For those who could care less about the injured.... If you should be the one dangling in the air or rapped around a tree make sure to tell the EMTs and other officials not to hold traffic up for your sake!!!!

HE WAS DRUNK! he put the lives of EVERYONE on that road atstake, and people have the right to be upset that a drunk driver held them up for an hour. They are not the selfish ones in my opinion, the drunk drivere was.

Thank you Jcarrme...I was thinking the same thing.....the guy was DRUNK! He deserves what he got for driving while drunk....at least he didnt kill anyone! I have no sympathy for people who drive drunk and then end up in an accident. SO you should thank GOD that he didnt kill someone you knew.

5:00 am, not sure why you say there are no creeks in Maine. Isn't the location of the accident just across from the Mud Creek Road?

As for drunk drivers, it's appalling how often I see drivers swerving into the breakdown lane, back over the yellow line and back again, for miles. You have to wonder whether they're drunk or on the cell phone. Didn't they just release a report stating that cell phone usage vs. drunk driving accident rates are about equal? At least no one was killed this time.

is this in hancock or sullivan or close to sullivan. seems i did work on that road years agao with wardwell

Well, Rabbot, you have to pump those stats up to make them look good when budget time rolls around. THAT's what REALLY counts.

jcarrme, how do you know he was drunk? The police said alcohol may have been a factor. That could have been based on something found in his vehicle that was not necessarily current. Maybe there was an unopened bottle of something that spilled on him causing an odor of alcohol about him. I am sure he was tested at the hospital and the police will get the final numbers. Of course, the possibility exists he was drinking, but I don't think we should make any rush to judgements here. This man no doubt has a family that is going through enough right now.

And oh, what a difference an article can make! We have all read this one. Now read this one:

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=108398

I'm sure if you do a Google search, you'll find several articles about this story. As you can see, the difference is night & day depending on which article you read. Rot in the stream? Boy, part of me feels the same way. Part of me hopes he finds the help he needs (*assuming that alcohol really was a factor). Fortunately no injured bystanders were hurt, which was another reason for the "Overreaction" on the part of responding agencies.

To those seeking sympathy for this man. There is absolutely NO reason to be in a single car accident if you are a careful driver. If you are not a careful driver, you are putting me, my friends, my family and others in the community at risk. He is lucky that he was not carrying any passengers. He is lucky that he did not strike any pedestrians or put anyone else in the hospital or morgue.

It is fortunate that he escaped without major injury, but the accident alone should not be considered as penalty enough. He needs to be charged with the relevant moving violations ( I suspect a DUI) and lose his license if the law calls for it.

'Deputies said alcohol may have been a factor in the accident, which is being investigated"

Raysgirl, then the police were careless in letting that information out. My guess they released it because it was true.

Kudos to all emergency personnel who responded to this accident. Yes people were inconvienced with the shut down of Rte 1. One driver went the long way home, smart thinking. Unfortunately there was no way to get this man out without shutting the road down. Get over it. Everyone got home or where ever they were headed right? Everybody needs to slow down a little and not be in such a hurry to get somewhere.

downeastdave wrote: There is absolutely NO reason to be in a single car accident if you are a careful driver.

You must be so perfect I commend you! A few years ago I slid off the road on a very frigid cold night on the Blackswoods Road...coming home after my father's funeral. It was too cold for salt or sand to be effective and TG I was not hurt even though my van slid through a snow bank, down over a bank and into a tree. An Ellsworth police officer on his way to work just happened to be going by and made sure I was ok, called the state police and stayed with me til the Sate police officer arrived. No alcohol was involved. Maybe grief was. But the point is...sometimes accidents do happen,,,there might be any number of reasons for the circumstances. I consider my self a fairly good driver but sometimes accidents happen anyway. There my have been alcohol involved in this one and if so I hope the authorities and law will do their part and yes thankfully no else was injured or killed. In the meantime Mr perfect downeastdave and all you self righteous judges of mankind....sympathy might be a good lesson for you because, and I repeat, it might someday be yourself or a friend or loved one needing an EMT or Police officers help. I hope also you all are very good drivers that will never have any kind of accident. I hope also you find some glimmer of compassion.

mewesten - I slid off the road and clipped a telephone pole about three years ago, so no... I am not perfect either. In my case, as likely yours I was going too fast for road conditions. But this case is not one of inclement weather or other contributing factors, it appears he simply lost control with no apparent mitigating factors. I see these kind of drivers DAILY. I am sure you do as well. Those that don't know how to merge on I-95, those who talk on the cell and weave over the road. They are dangerous. I think you would drop your "accidents happen" attitude if you are a family member were seriously injured or killed by an unqualified driver.

This man had an alcohol related one car accident this spring that was on I-95 near the Nwport exit. He broke his leg in that accident. Why hasn't his license been pulled???

I have waited a few days to post my reply to this story. I see some of the same names as the last major accident along US HWY 1 in Hancock. To those of you who have shown your appreciation again to the first responders, i thank you! For those who went the extra mile to recognize that they are not thanked enough, again, i thank you! Those who have complained about traffic, over-reaction on the part of the fire and ems crews, i appologize for your inconvenience and hope that if your time ever comes we can treat you with the same safety based, knowledge based, experience based, well thought plan to get you out of your vehicle and to the hospital...no matter how you get there.

The professionals who responded that day, and yes, i call them professionals, make these decisions daily. This incident combined many factors: high speed travel lanes which pose a threat to the safety of the responders, difficult access to the patient, he was near 20 feet over an embankment in his crushed vehicle, gasoline leaking into the water, and flowing downstream, filling the air with volatile vapors, a fairly technical rescue and extrication of an unconcious man, and an impressive technical vehilce recovery as the picture shows. Folks, here is a simple rule that all first responders follow: OUR SAFETY has to come first. At times we can easilly allow for the flow of traffic, and do so as soon as manpower allows. Times like this incident, traffic cannot move. Imagine if you will a driver or passenger tossing a lit cigarette over the bridge as they passed by...crews below doing what they could to stop and absorb the flow of the gasoline downstream, the vehicle involved, and those on the bridge above could have been injured badly. These first responders are not here to cause you grief, we do not sit around thinking of how we can make you sit in traffic, honestly! Next time something like this happens, think about it for a second. Have you ever offered to help? Ever offered to drive to the store and get some cold water on a hot day? Hot coffee on a cold one? Most importantly, have you ever considered that perhaps the person, or persons being taken care of could be someone you know...

Have faith in your first responders folks, many of you already do as i stated in my openning and again...thanks!...Your tax dollars are safer with these crews than many of the other expenditures you talk about at your annual meetings...I can safely assure you that every penny is earned with blood and sweat, and only asked for out of necessity. Thank you to all the firefighters, from ALL the towns, the EMS Crews, Lifeflight Of Maine, and the Hancock County Sheriffs Office. Thank god it was a good rescue, and not a body recovery!

As the Fire Chief for the Town of Hancock, I wish to say that the level of repsonse by Emergency personal was correct, infact, we could have used more repsonders. As the article says, Lifelfight, Hancock VFD, Lamoine VFD, and Ellsworth FD were on scene, actualy a crew from Franklin was there also. Each town's Fd had their own assigned task. An accident of this type, difficult location, leaking fuel into the environment, difficult and lengthy patient extrication, LARGE amount of traffic, required a large amount of personal to do the job as quick as possible, but foremost, as SAFE as possilble. The picture in the paper does not show that it took over 9 emergency workers to JUST get the patient safely out of the truck. EMT's and firefighters were working on the patient to safely remove him and check his injuries. The truck had to be forced open and JAWS tools used to remove him. The truck needed to be stabilized so it would not roll over more into the stream and drown the victim. Water from a fire engine was pumped thru a hose to wash the fuel off the upsidedown truck as the firefighters/EMT's worked to free him to prevent a spark from igniting the fuel. Wrecker operators were positioning the wrecker and attaching chains to crushed truck to raise it out of the stream as soon as the victim was clear. Carrying the victim thru the stream, up the embankment and to the ambulance required 6 persons. Yes, some were ones already assisting with the extrication, but by the time he was freed, they were exhausted and fresh personal was brought in to relieve them. Meanwhile while this was all going on, firefighters from Lamoine were working with some other Hancock firefigthters doing eviromental control. They were placing absorbant booms and pads in the stream, on the roadway, on the truck itself in the effort to control the fuel spill. The crew Ellsworth Fd sent was used in the etrication part. Franklin VFD assisted with setting up the Lifeflight Landing zone. Lamoine crews also assisted with traffic control once the scene was deemed safe to allow traffic to pass in the 1 available lane, this bridge has very small breakdown lanes so there was no room to allow 2 way traffic. Add in the fact that is was a hot and humid afternoon, this tires out fire and EMS crews quickly, we used 2 EMTs just to keep an eye on our personal to make sure no one was overheated and all were hydrated. Not to mention the County Ambulance crew who readied the ambulance to transport the patient to the LZ and assisted with the extrication. Add in the random factor of it being a busy, sunny, nice, Saturday in Maine and its citizens out traveling the roads to go camping, heading to a local lake, or park, or where ever they may have been headed,, it all made for a big mess... BUT.. all emergency personal worked well together, got the job done and truck removed from the streambed, patient treated and transported. Fuel cleaned up and on one else was hurt.

I'm glad the driver was not hurt seriously and I hope he has a speedy recovery from his injuries. I also want to thank all the firefighters and EMT's and Law enforcment personal that helped out. It was an unusual accident in an unusual spot . To those that sit back and armchair the incident,

I hope this helps you see that it took more than met the eye to help this person, and also a reminder that except for the Law Enforcment, and the full time Ellsworth firefighters and the County Ambulance employees.. ALL OTHER firefighters and EMT's were VOLUNTEER, this ment, we/they were there doing a hazordous job on hot humid Saturday afternoon, for no pay.......We gave up over 2 hours of our time to help someone... who needed it... We don;t expecrt to be paid, nor look for anything other than a THANKS...

Ps. the article does not mention the time spent Sunday AM , retrieving the absorbant booms from the stream bed after all the fuel was absorbed by the VOLUNTEER firemen....

I thank you all...

awsome response chief....that should keep them quiet.

I agree all the response units are awesome...sounds like a great job of teamwork!!! :) I also hope the driver spends a nice long time in jail so he doesn't have the opportunity to kill someone I know.