HANCOCK, Maine — Three men were hurt Thursday afternoon in a collision of three trucks on Route 1 in Hancock, according to Maine State Police, but none of the injuries is believed to be life-threatening.
The accident occurred around 1:15 p.m. when an eastbound 2005 Ford pickup truck slowed to turn right into a driveway at Sierra Signs, according to Mane State Police Trooper Gregory Roy. A 1996 GMC pickup truck slowed behind the turning vehicle and then was rear-ended by an eastbound Fraser Fuels heating oil delivery truck. The oil truck pushed the GMC into the westbound lane and then struck the left rear corner of the Ford truck that had slowed to turn into the driveway, the trooper said.
The GMC driver, Darius Patrick, 45, of Surry, was taken by ambulance to Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth, as were his two passengers — Martin Larsen, 35, and Shaun Poliquin, 40, both of Bucksport. The driver of the Fraser Fuel truck, Darren Fraser, 27, of Addison, and the driver of the Ford, Robert Hilts, 61, of Hancock, were not hurt.
A spokeswoman at the Ellsworth hospital said all three men who had been in the GMC still were being evaluated late Thursday afternoon but were in stable condition.
Roy said the GMC truck was demolished. He said he did not yet have dollar damage estimates for the fuel truck or the Ford. Oil and other fluids spilled into the roadway after the collision but no heating oil leaked from the Fraser Fuels truck, the trooper said.
Traffic was shifted toward the north side of the road for about an hour while emergency crews tended to the injured men, towed away the damaged vehicles and cleaned up the debris. Objects such as headlight assemblies, a plastic gas can and pieces of bumpers littered the eastbound lane after the accident.
Roy said the accident happened in front of him, within eyesight of his cruiser, as he was driving down Route 1, which enabled him to get to the scene of the accident quickly. He was assisted at the scene by members of the Hancock Volunteer Fire Department and County Ambulance.
Ok, show of hands… who read the headline and automatically thought “trailer truck”?
My biggest pet peeve with the BDN. They have of late been putting pick-up in the head line but this one slipped past. I guess they figure that because there was a commercial vehicle involved the story warrented misleading us.
I was listening to the scanner when this happened. The trooper originally said it was a trailer truck, then changed to an oil truck when he radioed to dispatch. He was very calm and collected while he was on the radio. You’d think he found an old penny in his pocket.
Glad to hear everyone was okay in the end.
Free heating oil for life!!
Lucky that they weren’t hurt worse then they were, rear-ended by a fuel truck and pushed into anotther truck. Not paying attenttion / speed / faulty truck many factors that could be the cause.
After Cards Tideway that road is a straight stretch right into Hancock Village up and down a few hills but basically straight. Easy to get moving along faster than one should be. I cant remember ever seeing much of a State Police or Sheriffs Department presence out there either. Hopefully all the men that went to the hospital will be just fine.
All are out of the hospital , they were lucky. It could have been much worse, hopefully no lasting injuries.
This sure doesn’t sound like an “accident” to me.
Unless there was a mechanical problem with the truck or the driver had a medical emergency, then this is not an “accident” but a completely avoidable crash caused by the oil truck driver’s incompetence.
I wonder if this guy wants to sell his truck for scrap ?
BDN has the name of the driver of the GMC wrong, his name is Patrick Darius not Darius Patrick. And he was back to work today and I think the other two guys where too. Rickytan50 Ibelive he will sell the truck for scrap because he does that himself.