BANGOR (AP) – A mother-to-be who was trapped in her car with her 2-year-old niece for more than an hour as live electrical wires were draped atop the vehicle and some dangled through its open sunroof had one fear going through her head throughout the ordeal.

“I kept thinking, please don’t go into labor right now,” said Katheryn Spearing, 28, of Bangor, who thought she had narrowly escaped danger Saturday afternoon when she jammed on the brakes as a large, rotted tree crashed into Parkview Avenue in front of her.

But within seconds, the tree snapped two utility poles and tore down power lines that fell onto Spearing’s green Volvo.

Neither Spearing nor her niece, Madison Coolbrith, was injured.

“I heard a huge crack but didn’t realize the power lines were coming down until I stopped the car and heard a big thud on my roof,” Spearing said. “I wanted to get out and kind of panicked at first.”

But Spearing, who is nine months pregnant with a due date of June 5, quickly recognized that she and Madison, who slept in the back seat, would have to remain in the vehicle in near 80-degree heat until help arrived.

It took more than an hour, but rescuers freed the two after Bangor Hydro-Electric Company cut power to the lines.

The tree, which local residents said had been rotting for years, was on a corner of Chapin Park, which was crowded over the holiday weekend.

“This place was packed with kids, dogs and people running, all day,” said Monica Collins, who lives nearby. “This park is very active; I’m shocked the tree didn’t hit somebody when it came down.”

The downed tree spanned the entire roadway, coming close to a basketball hoop at the edge of a driveway across from the park.

“Two to three boys are always playing basketball across the street,” said Deborah Colageo. “The tree fell right toward it.”

About 32 residents lost electricity when Bangor Hydro cut power, but service was restored to everyone by Sunday morning, the utility said.

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