By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

NEW SHARON – Four people were injured – three seriously – in a two crashes here Sunday afternoon.

The worst accident was a head-on crash on Route 2 that sent three people to hospitals.

Franklin County Deputy Sheriff Aaron Turcotte said that cars driven by Jaimie Young, 20, of Fairfield, and Gary Fitzpatrick, 59, of Skowhegan, collided when whiteout conditions resulted from snow blowing across the highway from a farm field.

When the snow blinded Young, she lost control on glare ice, the result of an earlier blast of snow hitting the road, Turcotte said,

Gary Fitzpatrick and his wife, Susan, 52, a passenger in his car, were evacuated by LifeFlight air ambulance to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, where they were listed in stable condition Sunday night, Turcotte said.

Young was taken by ambulance to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, where she was also listed in stable condition, he said.

All three people had to be extricated from their cars, a 1990 Oldsmobile in Young’s case, a 1997 Buick in the Fitzpatricks’. Turcotte said firefighters from New Sharon and Farmington responded to the crash to help get the victims out of their cars.

Traffic was backed up for miles when Route 2 was closed to traffic for an hour or so after the accident.

Turcotte said state police reconstructed the accident.

No sooner had that scene been cleared when Turcotte was called to another crash in New Sharon, on Lowe Road.

The 4 p.m. crash occurred when a 1994 Ford Taurus driven by Jay Hoel, 32, of Etna, went off the road and smashed head-on into a large tree.

Hoel was also taken to CMMC by LifeFlight air ambulance. She was listed in stable condition Sunday night, Turcotte said, suffering from multiple injuries.