HAMLIN, Maine — A man risked his life to pull a woman from her vehicle after it rolled over and crashed into a utility pole in the middle of the night in Hamlin. Downed power lines from the utility pole draped the crash scene.
James Ohare said he was at his home on Hamlin Road just after midnight on Friday, May 20, when he suddenly heard a loud sort of explosion followed by the power going out. He said he thought a transformer had blown, but when he looked outside, he noticed a small light up the road that he knew did not belong there.
The initial call to the Van Buren Fire Department was that someone was trapped in a crashed vehicle and there were signs of smoke. Upon arrival, police, firefighters and ambulance workers saw that the car had cracked a utility pole, ripped off several sections of the primary electrical wires and tripped the fuse link, cutting off power to several houses. Ohare had already pulled the woman out of the car despite the possible danger from the wires, but a power company spokesperson Tuesday said people need to be more cautious around downed power lines.
Ohare said he quickly dressed, jumped into his own vehicle and started driving toward the light when it became clear that a vehicle had rolled over and hit a utility pole.
“My initial reaction was that I was walking up to dead people,” Ohare said. “A smile came to me, relief came to me, when I could see through the window. She was wearing her seat belt and the airbag was in front of her, but I could see that she was on the phone talking with 911, I imagine, and she was really upset, crying, worried that the car was going to catch on fire.”
Ohare said he could see that the wires from the pole were down, but given the lack of power to surrounding houses, he thought they were likely dead. He said he approached the vehicle and decided to try prying open the car’s sunroof.
“I got my fingers in between the rubber and the sunroof and pried it loose enough that I could get my hand behind it,” Ohare said. “I ripped the sunroof off, stood inside the car, picked her up so she could release the seat belt, and then I helped her get out of the car.”
Ohare is a retired tractor trailer truck driver with experience flying planes, deep sea and sky diving.
Rescue personnel arrived about 4 minutes after Ohare pulled the young woman out of the car. She did not have serious injuries but was taken to Cary Medical Center in Caribou for evaluation.
“That’s gotta be one of the most terrifying things, to be trapped in something and thinking you’re going to burn to death,” Ohare said. “But all in all she took it well and she’s lucky, lucky, lucky she had her seat belt on.”
Justice Flannery, who was the driver of the crashed vehicle, said she was driving too fast around a corner and ended up over the edge of the road. She said she soon realized she was heading straight for a guard rail when she swerved and ended up rolling her vehicle over.
Flannery said she had not noticed the downed wires by the time Ohare reached her.
“I’m very grateful that he left his house and came to the accident,” Flannery said. “I’m even more grateful that he was not harmed while helping me out of the car, as that was a huge possibility.”
Van Buren Light and Power took care of the downed lines at Flannery’s crash.
Judy Long, manager of Communications at Versant Power which covers a portion of Hamlin, said that downed wires could cause electricity to run through the ground and anyone who steps close could be electrocuted.
“We strongly recommend that unless a vehicle is engulfed in flames and there’s imminent danger and a person inside that you never approach a vehicle if there are downed wires around,” Long said.
If someone notices downed wires, Long said they should immediately call emergency services who have a direct line to Versant Power or whatever utility serves the area so that a trained professional can safely stop the flow of power before any rescue attempts are made.
If a person is in a crash and they have downed wires around them, they should stay in their vehicle, call for help and have someone make sure that the electricity is shut off before they get out of their vehicle, Long said.
“It would be a tragedy if someone trying to save a life lost theirs,” Long said.
