SMYRNA, Maine — A snowy, icy stretch of Interstate 95 in Aroostook County contributed to a rash of crashes Thursday night, including one that set a vehicle ablaze.
Thomas Holmes of Westfield was driving a 2011 Chevy Aveo northbound on I-95 near mile marker 291 when he lost control of his car and struck a guardrail. His vehicle caught fire soon after. Holmes, who was wearing a seatbelt, escaped the vehicle without injury, Maine State Police Trooper Caleb Adams said in a Friday morning news release. Adams didn’t say what time the crashes happened.
In the span of one hour along that stretch of I-95, state police and the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office dealt with crashes in three areas involving six vehicles within an hour. While troopers were helping Holmes, they received a call about a rollover crash 3 miles to the north.
The driver in that crash, a 40-year-old man from Prince Edward Island, lost control of his car and struck a snowbank, going airborne before the car landed on its nose and then its roof. The driver wasn’t hurt. He was wearing a seatbelt when he crashed.
“The road conditions on I-95 became treacherous quickly due to a passing snow squall and quickly dropping temperatures,” Adams said.
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