BANGOR, Maine — A Bangor Fire Department ambulance en route to a call early Tuesday morning ran into a utility pole, and the accident is under investigation, the interim fire chief said Wednesday.
Chandler Doody-Corriveau, 24, was driving the emergency rig with paramedic Jeremiah Titus, 32, as his passenger when the low-speed crash occurred, Bangor police Sgt. Paul Edwards said.
“They were going to a call and looking for a house on Third and Union [streets] and he became distracted while looking for the house and hit a pole,” the sergeant said.
Nobody was injured in the crash and the amount of damage was not available, Edwards said. The front end of the ambulance was crumpled. It was towed away by a Bangor wrecker company from the Main Street fire station Wednesday morning.
“There was a little mishap and it is under internal investigation at this time,” Assistant Bangor Fire Chief Rick Cheverie, who is serving as the interim chief, said Wednesday. “This was a minor accident.”
Accidents happen .
Not when you’re paying attention, which the driver wasn’t.
Um actually, accidents still happen, even when you are paying attention.
What it the definition of an accident ?
“Accident” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “an unforseen and unplanned event or circumstance.”
Running into a utility pole is not an unforseen “event” when one chooses not to keep his eyes on the road and chooses to drive at a speed too fast for the circumstances.
Yes you are right thats why i say that the term accident has not been used right
Hope some day you need their services and you can whine some more while waiting as they slowly tried to read the house number and be very cautious not to hit anything. BFD is a professional bunch of guys who’s job is to save property and lives. Gee, that’s not an adrenaline rush. If you’re not happy with BFD, then move. Go out in the country where you have to wait for all the guys to show up before they can be dispatched. Just what you need. You must be the most attentive driver in the world if you can whine about others.
Who said I’m not happy with the Bangor Fire Department?
Let’s be honest here: The driver messed up.
They were going to a call and looking for a house on Third and Union [streets] and he became distracted while looking for the house and hit a pole,” the sergeant said.
No its the drivers fault this could of been prevented the other person in the rig could do all of the looking .
You were not there, so what right do you have, saying the way things should have went down? huh… thank God NO one was injured!! BFD crew does exemplary work!!!! and accidents such as this happen quickly!!!!
It said right in the article that the driver was looking around so that means that the drive was not paying attention to there driving
Do you think emergency crews will be held to any standard for distracted driving?
i sure hope so they are not above the law
wow, accidents happen even if you drive a ambulance. It didnt happen on purpose, it was a ACCIDENT. I can only imagine the guy who was driving feels bad enough.
What is an accident ? To me an accident is some thing that you have NO control over . So you are saying that the rig decided to hit the tree ?They were going to a call and looking for a house on Third and Union [streets] and he became distracted while looking for the house and hit a pole,” the sergeant said.
Dont be stupid, a accident is just that a ACCIDENT! If you dont like BFD maybe you should move!
Im not sure what point you are trying to make by adding “They were going to a call and looking for a house on Third and Union [streets] and he became distracted while looking for the house and hit a pole,” the sergeant said.” to every one of your comments… We can all read. I don’t believe the driver’s intention was to crash the ambulance when he left the station. It was an accident… Get over it!
The driver was in the wrong you know that an i know that . Do a search on here an see the diffrence between an accident an a crash an you will see that the term accident is way over used when it should be a crash
No, actually I do not know that…. and we won’t know until the investigation is over to determine what the driver was distracted by. How do you know he wasn’t just looking for an address and looked a second longer then he should have?
Crash: (of moving vehicles, objects, etc.) to collide, especially violently and noisily.
Accident: an undesirable or unfortunate happening that occursunintentionally and usually results in harm, injury, damage,or loss; casualty; mishap: automobile accidents.
After rereading this article and “doing a search” I would still classify this as an accident.
– *Accident: an unfortunate event resulting especially from carelessness or ignorance*
– *Crash: a breaking to pieces by or as if by collision*
ok he crashed into the pole accidentally that better?
:)
Next time you need an emergency vehicle to come to your aid you better not complain if they are slow as they would obviously in your opinion need to stop at every house on the block so they can see where you live. Make sure they stop have signals on so they can obey every rule. How do you not know that maybe someone has dying and they were trying to rush to find the house? It is an accident and I am sure the guy feels bad enough, no one was injured just an ambulance that can be fixed.
what it if they get in an accident an they kill some it could be your wife or your kids. what would you say then .. They have rules to go by too.
Have you ever seen an ambulance when they drive down a road? Doesnt matter if it a highway or a secondary road they sometimes drive real fast run lights and everything and how many of them get into accidents daily? Yeah thats right you dont know. Shyt happens I said at least he didnt hurt anyone in his MINOR accident but I think if he DID hit one of my family members ( I am female by the way) I think I may put some blame on the house owner and the driver. If you even tryed to take it to court theyd throw it out. Again at least no one was hurt and people make sure your house is clearly marked if you want faster service :)
well said Jaymee
seconds ago
The article also said,” they were looking for a address, like you probablydid your self on some occasion..right!!!! The accident was NOT intentional, come on!!! sounds like your being self righteous !!
I know what it’s like to look for an address. But I have never come close to hitting anything while doing so. It’s not as though the pole was in the middle of the street.
They were going to a call and looking for a house on Third and Union [streets] and he became distracted while looking for the house and hit a pole,” the sergeant said.
seriously, accidents happen all the time to everyone of us. You people on here putting down the driver of the ambulance need to get a friggan grip. They are human just like all of us. Im sure the guy feels bad enough and has to see and read the bull**** on here. The accident was just that a accident! Dont you people have anything better to do or talk about than this poor guy that was driving the ambulance.
I am not putting him down I am sticking up for him shyt happens and it happened to him could of been a 20 year vet or a 25year old newbie :)
Jaymee, I know your not putting the driver down wasnt intended for you. Afew others yes it was intended for them. Your so right could of been a 20yr vet or a 25 yr old newbie. I agree :)
The article also said,” they were looking for a address, like you probably did your self on some occasion..right!!!! The accident was NOT intentional, come on!!! sounds like your being self righteous !!
Not intentional, but avoidable.
How do you know Ryan? Were you there?
In my experience, utility poles aren’t set in the road, and they don’t move. So unless the ambulance was run off the road by Bond villains or something, yes, it was avoidable.
Maybe you should ask the chief if you can help investagate the accident since you know so much….NOT! Im sure they may need a “Barney Fife” on site.
Are you really arguing that utility poles are set in streets and that they can move on their own?
First of all I never said utility poles are set in the streets and never said they move on their own. What i am saying is nobody should be judging anything, the accident is being investagated. Who are you to judge that kid that was driving….unless you were there and saw the whole thing. Did you? I didnt think so
Please understand that when you are looking for an address because someone has called and needs help… that isn’t distracted driving….. also have you ever tried to look at house numbers from the passenger side of a rig. probably not.. Please don’t judge or throw comments out there without knowing all the facts. Glad that it was a minor accident. Keep up the good work Bangor Fire.
Better a pole than a person.
Lucky a pole, not a person.
Polish people are “persons”, too.
Why do so many people discriminate against them?
If the ambulance had to be towed, it’s not “a little mishap”.
It doesnt take much to do damage to a vechile. It was just that…alittle mishap!
Well they cant just let an ambulance continue to Transport sick or injured people NOT knowing if its leaking fuel, or has any engine damage. That’d be a disaster if somebody needed to get to the hospital and the ambulance broke down..
Do you honestly believe that I don’t already know that or has any relevance whatsoever to my comment? It was NOT “a little mishap”!
Its helpful when residences are clearly marked with a house number that can be seen from the road or from the mailbox. its very difficult for responders to find you when house numbers can’t be seen.
Doody , not reporting for duty , for a while.
Seriously….is that really called for
They were responding to a call…what happen with that??
Reporting is being pushed aside in favor of just slapping together a few paragraphs that merely parrot what someone says. That seems to be the paper’s new philosophy with its focus on getting everything and anything out on the Web as quickly as possible. Incomplete and inaccurate stories are the result.
Eh, give the young man a break. Rolling code 3 with lights and sirens blaring is enough of an adrenaline rush. Especially for a 24 year old. I’m sure it was an accident. Luckily he didn’t have a patient on board. (Although they’re secured to floor mounts.) Overall, glad nobody was hurt!
If an ambulance driver is getting a rush from flashing lights (most of which he can’t see) and a siren, then I don’t think he’s ready for the real thing yet.
Even the most seasoned of first responders still get a rush when responding to a call. Its simply human nature. If that person did not experience a “rush” or some kind of change I would be concerned that they had some sort of mental illness. The big thing is that you learn to control that “rush” (surge of adrenaline, endorphins, etc) so you can do your job, this young man obviously needs some help in this department. The fact that someone’s life is on the line weighs heavy on the mind and causes physiological changes in the body. That being said, usually the adrenaline would make you more alert but sometimes you can get tunnel vision.
Yeah, and you must be speaking from extensive experience, right, Ryan? Your comments are a waste of digital space.
I guess maybe you self righteous people, need to join the BFD/ambulance crew, and just show them how it”s done, NOT… seeing that you all are just SO perfect and YOU would never do anything wrong, like getting distracted!!
Of course the ambulance driver was looking around . . . for the correct house! Yes, even ambulance drivers make mistakes. Apparently that’s unacceptable to some of you. I sure wish I was as perfect as you.