LEWISTON – How slippery was it? An unattended ambulance went sliding by itself toward downtown Lewiston. Police officers who chased after it slipped to the ground and continued skidding down the street. Drivers trying to steer clear of wrecks in the road found themselves in ditches.

Just about everywhere Thursday, cars and trucks were running off the road, into guardrails or into each other.

Only a few inches of snow fell across the region, but roads quickly became slick. Starting at about 10:30 a.m., police and rescue crews were sent every which way as crash reports began rolling in.

“I was out there for only about an hour, but I’ll bet I heard 10 crash calls,” said Lewiston police Chief William Welch. “It was really slippery.”

Lewiston was the scene of a comedy of errors as police and paramedics responded to a pair of unrelated crashes at Bartlett and Ash streets just before noon.

One driver unable to stop at the intersection was rammed by an oncoming pickup truck. At the opposite side of the street, one car slid into another.

A woman experienced pain from the second crash and an ambulance was sent to the scene. The ambulance driver put the vehicle in park and applied the emergency brake. It wasn’t enough.

“I looked over and it was just sliding right down Ash Street,” said police Officer Jeff Baril. “I chased it down, I grabbed it and I dove into it.”

Baril was able to bring the ambulance to a stop before it slid off the road or into buildings or vehicles. Meanwhile, Sgt. Danny LaChance could not stop his pursuit of the vehicle.

“He fell on his butt and slid down the hill,” Baril said.

Neither officer was hurt during the incident. No one was seriously injured in either of the crashes that led to it.

Sheriff’s departments reported numerous but mostly minor crashes in the early part of the afternoon. State police reported more than four dozen wrecks or vehicles off the road by late in the day. Most wrecks were the result of drivers who did not observe lower speed limits during the storm, officials said.

Technically, the snow was the result of flurries rather than a storm. Two inches or less fell in most areas. No schools were canceled because the snow began falling after kids were already in their classrooms.

It was mostly about cars and the laws of physics. After a couple weeks of dry, clear roads, motorists appeared to have trouble getting reacquainted with wet, slick streets.

“People just have trouble adjusting,” said Moe Bolduc, of the Auburn Police Department.

There was trouble on Auburn streets, as well. Riverside Drive was particularly troublesome, with three vehicle mishaps reported by nightfall.

Imelda P. Guay was driving east on Riverside when she began to slow after spotting another vehicle off the road ahead of her. The tires of her Lincoln skidded across packed snow and the 70-year-old Auburn woman found herself in a ditch.

Guay was not hurt in the wreck, although damage to her Lincoln was estimated at $2,500. There was no injury or damage in the crash she witnessed prior to losing control of her own vehicle.

There were several minor crashes in mall parking lots or on roads leading to the stores. Shortly before noon, vehicles collided on the connector road between the Auburn Mall and Shaw’s Plaza.

A vehicle driven by Matthew C. Perrine, 19, of Lewiston, and Kelly L. Lucas, 39, of Livermore Falls collided about 11:30 a.m. Combined damage to their vehicles was estimated at $5,000.

Before night, the snow had stopped falling and road conditions improved. But weather forecasters were calling for rain and mixed precipitation into the weekend.

mlaflamme@sunjournal.com

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