By Terry Karkos,Staff Writer

BETHEL – Luck was riding with a New Hampshire woman whose car caught fire after it crashed on North Road in Bethel earlier this week.

Bethel Patrolman Ovide “Buddy” Richard said Friday morning that when he saw Jennifer Soares, 43, of Berlin, N.H., lying on the ground near her fully engulfed car early Tuesday morning, he didn’t think she was alive.

“It came in at 4:26 in the morning as a car fire, so when I walked to the car, I was surprised to see someone laying there,” Richard said.

“I thought she got ejected and was possibly dead. She was laying four feet from the rear of the car, in a ditch, and the flames were going right over her. I don’t know why it didn’t catch her clothes on fire,” he said.

Richard ran to his cruiser, grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran back to the 1996 Oldsmobile Sierra.

“I went to spray it and the fire extinguisher didn’t work, and I thought, Oh, great,'” he said.

He shone a flashlight in her face and hollered at her.

“She opened her eyes, lifted her head and said she couldn’t move,” Richard said.

The rear of the car was fully engulfed. He worried the gas tank would explode at any second.

“I was concerned about it. It was scary,” he said.

Despite intense heat, he pulled her away from the fire and to the road, then was relieved to see Bethel Rescue and Bethel firefighters arrive.

Soares suffered chest injuries, a possible injured ankle and complained of neck and back pain, Richard said.

She was taken to Bethel Regional Airport by ambulance, then airlifted to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. She was still hospitalized there Friday afternoon and in good condition, a spokeswoman said.

Police believe Soares took a wrong turn while headed to work and was lost on the rural North Road when the accident occurred. North Road parallels Route 2 on the opposite side of the Androscoggin River.

Soares told Richard she swerved to avoid an animal that ran into the road. The car veered to the right, Soares overcorrected, the car went into a ditch, then ramped up a large rock to land back in the middle of the road, the officer said.

He wasn’t sure if the fire started while she was trying to free herself or after she got out and collapsed.

“The only thing that saved her from the fire was that she was laying down and the heat was rising, but it kept her from getting hypothermia. It was very cold that night,” Richard said.

“She was very lucky. I guess the good Lord wasn’t ready for her yet,” he added.

Richard credited Sun Journal newspaper carrier Robert Cleary and his girlfriend, Kathy Matthews, both of Bryant Pond, for quickly notifying emergency responders about the accident and staying there to help.

“Luckily, the deliveryperson came along when he did, or it could have been much worse,” he said.