RUMFORD – Two separate rollover wrecks occurred on Rumford roads Tuesday and Wednesday, keeping police and emergency crews busy.

Wednesday morning’s crash on Route 108 was caused by black ice, while Tuesday afternoon’s wreck on Route 2 at Rumford Point caused $110,000 damage, totaling a tractor-trailer truck, police said.

At 9:50 a.m. Wednesday, a 1996 Ford Explorer, driven by Lisa Heath, 22, of Rumford flipped over after encountering icy pavement about a mile north of the Rumford-Peru town line.

“She said she tapped her brake and the vehicle began to fishtail,” said investigating officer Daniel Garbarini.

The northbound Ford skidded across the road into the opposite travel lane, crashed into a snow-covered ditch, struck the bank and rolled over onto its passenger side.

“The rear of the vehicle struck then struck the bank, shattering the back window. The vehicle continued to rotate on its passenger side until it came to rest on the centerline, blocking both travel lanes,” Garbarini said.

A female motorist helped Heath out of her vehicle. Garbarini said Heath complained of an injury to her arm. Med-Care Ambulance medics treated her at the scene, but she declined transport to Rumford Hospital, saying she would go on her own, he added.

Dan’s Automotive towed the totaled Ford, which sustained an estimated $7,000 damage.

“We had rain here this morning with cold roads that froze up and created black ice,” Garbarini said.

Sgt. George Cayer said at one point Wednesday morning, police responded to minor wrecks involving nine vehicles and a tractor-trailer truck that slid off South Rumford Road into snowbanks. There were no injuries or damages.

“The roads were awful,” said officer James Bernard.

Road conditions, however, didn’t cause Tuesday’s tractor-trailer truck rollover on Route 2 at its intersection with Route 5 in Rumford Point.

Bernard said that wreck was caused by driver inexperience.

In that 1:15 p.m. incident, a Maine Department of Transportation worker reported seeing the 1998 Freightliner tip up on its side wheels while rounding the sharp corner before rolling over and landing on the bridge over the Ellis River, blocking both lanes of traffic.

“When we arrived, we saw 100 feet of mashed guardrail and the truck laying on its passenger side on the bridge,” Bernard said.

Driver MacKay Clifford, 31, of Quebec, and passenger Marie Cantin, 20, of Quebec, had already extricated themselves from the truck cab.

Clifford was uninjured but Cantin, who suffered a foot injury, was transported to Rumford Hospital by Med-Care Ambulance. Bernard said she was treated and released.

He said Clifford, who had only been driving for nine months, was hauling recyclable, bailed cardboard for Roberts Transport of Quebec.

“Clifford said he was going around the corner when he felt the load shift, and then the truck pulled really hard to the right, sending him into the guardrail,” Bernard said.

He estimated damage to the totaled rig at $110,000, and another $4,000 to the guardrail.

Route 2 was shut down for four hours while Rumford firefighters directed traffic and cleaned up the mess. Other responders included two Oxford County officers, and Rumford police Chief Timothy Bourassa and Det. Lt. Wayne Gallant.

Bernard credited Dan Dolloff with helping to unload the trailer, and teamwork by M/T Pockets of Dixfield and a Bancroft crew with a large crane, for righting the truck, and hauling it away.

Traffic was re-routed around the blockage on Jed Martin and Andover roads, and Route 5.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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