Multiple car crashes occurred in New Sharon on Friday morning after black ice formed on the roadway due to freezing rain conditions.
An initial crash on Mile Hill Road was reported around 9:43 a.m., according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department. When deputies arrived on the scene, they found a tractor trailer had slid off the road and struck multiple other vehicles.
Jean Fanfan, 41, off Raynham, Massachusetts, had lost control of the tractor trailer due to icy conditions, officials said. While multiple other vehicles in the area had pulled over to the side, Fanfan was unable to bring the tractor trailer to a stop before striking a 2016 Subaru Forester, driven by 30-year-old Julie Burdin of Strong, that had been parked in the northbound breakdown lane.
When the tractor trailer struck the Subaru, it then veered to the opposite side of the road, with the cab of the truck coming to rest in a ditch. The trailer swung around, striking a 2015 Subaru, driven by 62-year-old Nancy Lloyd of Falmouth. Lloyd had parked her vehicle in the southbound breakdown lane, and was standing outside the vehicle at the time that the trailer struck it, officials said.
Lloyd was able to duck for cover, and was not injured in the crash.
However, Wyatt Campbell, 16, of Phillips, who had been standing outside of his 2008 Chevy truck that was parked behind Lloyd’s vehicle, was struck by the trailer and thrown to the ground, according to officials.
Three ambulances were sent to the scene, but it was not clear on Friday afternoon whether any drivers were seriously injured or transported to local hospitals. Several personnel that responded to the crash were transported to Franklin Memorial Hospital.
Another separate crash occurred at around the same time, although no one was injured, Franklin County deputies said. Katherine Cloutier, 60, of Topsham had been northbound in a 2012 Dodge Avenger when she lost control of her vehicle and spun out into a ditch.
Maine State Police responded to a third rollover crash, which occurred on the Rome side of Mile Hill Road, at around the same time. An SUV was involved in a single-vehicle crash, coming to rest near the Hampshire Hill Road intersection. Details on that crash were not available on Friday afternoon.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protections was called to the scene of the multi-vehicle crash near the tractor trailer to clean up spilled fuel.
