A car fire on Interstate 95 in Sidney on Wednesday caused two multi-vehicle pileups.
Gerald Foss, 46, of Winslow was driving a white 2013 Chrysler 300 north on I-95, near mile marker 119.5, about 3:40 p.m. when a fire started in his vehicle, according to Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Foss managed to pull over into the right breakdown lane and escape before the Chrysler became fully engulfed in flames, Moss said Thursday.
The smoke for the fire could be seen for a distance, and I-95 was reduced to a single lane.
While firefighters battled the blaze, an 18-wheeler hauling debris failed to slow down and hit three other vehicles, pushing them off the road, near mile marker 119, about 3:47 p.m.
That crash brought traffic to a standstill.
At the same time, a black Jeep Grand Cherokee traveling in the left northbound lane, near mile marker 119, rear-ended the vehicle in front of it when it braked for the stalled traffic, according to Moss. That caused a chain-reaction crash involving four vehicles.
Four people were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.
