BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY JOHN CLARKE RUSS The Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department, Maine State Police, local fire and rescue, and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection converge on the site of a head-on collision between a pickup truck (far left) and a dump truck (far right) on Western Avenue in Dixmont around noon Thursday. The driver of the pickup, Jeffrey Goodwin, 50, of Frankfort, died at the scene. The area was blocked to traffic for about two hours.Buy Photo

DIXMONT, Maine — A Frankfort man was killed Thursday after his pickup truck crossed the centerline of Route 9 in Dixmont and collided head-on with a dump truck hauling gravel.

Jeffrey Goodwin, 50, suffered severe trauma from the crash and died at the scene, according to Chief Deputy Troy Morton of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department. Morton said Goodwin was wearing a seat belt and was pinned in the wreckage.

The accident happened shortly after noon Thursday and shut down Route 9, also known as Western Avenue, for about two hours as police and fire officials reconstructed the collision.

According to a witness who was interviewed by detectives, Goodwin’s Ford Ranger pickup was headed northeast toward Hampden when it unexpectedly veered into the path of a dump truck driven by Michael Burrill, 55, of Garland.

“He did everything he could to avoid a collision,” Morton said of Burrill, who was not injured. “We’re still trying to figure out what caused the driver to swerve, and we have some ideas, but nothing to indicate that the dump truck was at fault.”

The stretch of Route 9 near the Newburgh-Dixmont line is slightly elevated but straight. Morton said speed and weather conditions were not factors.

Both vehicles ended up off the road, which was littered with debris and spilled gravel from the dump truck. Morton said a similar accident involving a tractor-trailer occurred earlier this year on the same stretch of road.

“People always talk about big trucks being forced off the interstate and causing accidents on state roads, but this had nothing to do with that,” Morton said.

Goodwin’s pickup was demolished and the dump truck, owned by Lou Silver Construction of Veazie, had extensive front-end damage. The dump truck also leaked some fuel, which required cleanup by the Department of Environmental Protection.