Jaws of Life used to extricate one driver

Rockport firefighters respond to two consecutive evening crashes

Fri, 01/17/2020 - 9:00pm

    ROCKPORT — Just after Rockport firefighters and police responded to a two-vehicle crash on Route 17, near Mirror Lake, and extricated one driver with the Jaws of Life, they were on their way to another crash, this time a rollover at the intersection of Mill Street and Route 90.

    In fact, they still heading down the road from the Mirror lake vicinity back to the stations when the second call came. With crews already in gear, they drove the engines over to the Mill Street crash.

    The first crash, which occurred soon after 7 p.m. near the Maine Water Company facility at the east end of Mirror Lake, involved a sedan with the driver and passenger, and a Caravan, with the driver and a young child in a carseat, according to Rockport Deputy Fire Chief Todd Philbrook.

    It was unclear what caused the Jan. 17 crash, but firefighters quickly removed the car door of the sedan to help the driver out of the vehicle. The passenger in that car was also helped out, into an ambulance and transported to Pen Bay Medical Center.

    The driver of the van and the child were not injured and were picked up by another acquaintance in a different vehicle and independently transported to the hospital.

    At the Mill Street rollover, the driver was likewise uninjured. Slippery road conditions were thought to be the cause of that crash.

    The two evening crashes concluded a day’s worth of incidents for the volunteer Rockport Fire Department, which began early in the morning on South Street, where firefighters responded to a car vs. pole crash.

    There, just after 7 a.m., a driver slid off the road and into a three-phase power pole, which carries electricity to Pen Bay Medical Center.

    The car snapped the pole at ground level, knocking all the lines down, said Rockport Fire Chief Jason Peasley. Central Maine Power responded to fix the pole and the driver was uninjured.

    This story will be updated when more details become available.