BETHEL – A Bethel patrolman was called a hero Wednesday for finding and rescuing an injured woman in the dark outside of her burning car early Tuesday morning on North Road.
Investigating State Trooper Andre Paradis did not return phone calls Wednesday regarding the woman’s identity or details of the accident. A nursing supervisor at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston said the woman, who was taken by medical helicopter to the hospital, was in good condition early Wednesday evening.
The man who discovered the wreck and called Bethel Officer Ovide “Buddy” Richard a hero is Sun Journal newspaper carrier Robert Cleary of the village of Bryant Pond in Woodstock.
Cleary was delivering newspapers between 4 and 4:20 a.m. Tuesday from his car with his girlfriend, Kathy Matthews, also of Bryant Pond, when they rounded a corner about three miles in off Route 2 and saw the burning car.
“I thought it was a forest fire at first, because there was 30-foot-high flames coming out of it,” Cleary said Wednesday morning.
While Matthews called 911, Cleary said he ran to the car to see if anyone was trapped inside.
“I got as close as I could, but it was so hot, not even a fireman with his gear could get inside. There was no seats left and the tires were cooked. Everything was cooked,” Cleary said.
“I went around the car to where the fire wasn’t so intense, and screamed three to four times, Is anyone in there? Is anyone in there?’ But I got no response, just the car sizzling,” he said.
He said there was also a 15-foot-long trail of dark liquid running down the road from the car and worried that it might catch fire.
“It was scary. My girlfriend kind of freaked out. She was yelling my name to get back,” Cleary said.
Richard, the first responder, soon arrived.
“The officer, he went down there and shined a flashlight toward a house in the woods, and in a ditch, then I saw him come running up the road to his car to grab a fire extinguisher, and run back down there,” Cleary said.
“The next thing I knew, he dragged a lady out of the ditch and up to the road, and then the ambulance showed up. That officer, he is a hero, because he was smart enough to look into the ditch,” he added.
Richard could not be contacted Wednesday.
Cleary said he didn’t think to look around the car, because, at first, he didn’t think it was a wreck.
“I was more concerned that somebody in the car had burned up. But she was unconscious. That’s why she didn’t hear me yelling. I’m not a hero, but I would have dragged her up from there if I had saw her,” he said.
Cleary doubted that anyone would have found the woman or car in time to help, had he not shown up.
“I usually don’t see any vehicle at all on that road that early, except for an occasional 18-wheeler,” he said.
State Trooper James Nolan, who was also responding to the wreck, said Wednesday that he was diverted from it to another wreck on Route 26 and Bailey Road that happened soon after the car fire was reported.
Bethel Chief Alan Carr said Wednesday morning that Bethel Patrolman Travis Fillmore heard the emergency call and headed toward the scene to assist in his own vehicle, a Ford Explorer.
However, Carr said, the SUV “hit loose gravel” at the intersection and rolled onto its side. Fillmore was not injured; the SUV sustained minor damage.
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