POLAND – A Casco man was rescued by a pair of bystanders Wednesday after his truck flipped on Route 11 and caught fire.

Robert Evans, 38, was driving toward Casco when the rear axle on his pickup broke, causing him to lose control of the truck and flip it, police said.

The truck came to rest on the driver’s side against an embankment. Almost immediately, it burst into flames with Evans inside, unable to get out on his own. Within minutes, the truck was engulfed in flames.

Fortunately, police said, a pair of people who witnessed the crash rushed over to help. One lived near the crash site; the other had been driving through the area, police said. Together, they were able to free Evans from the burning truck as rescue crews responded.

“It was a close call for him,” said Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Deputy Dennis Sampson. “If they hadn’t been right there, he might not have made it.”

The names of the rescuers were not available late Wednesday.

Evans was freed from his truck and taken to be examined for neck pain suffered in the crash. He did not need to be hospitalized.

Meanwhile, the crash wreckage was causing problems in other ways.

“The fire spread into the trees, and got into the woods a little bit,” Sampson said.

Fire crews stopped the flames before they became an outright forest fire and doused the burning truck. The 1998 Dodge was destroyed.

“The guy’s very lucky,” said Poland fire Chief Mark Bosse. “I’m glad it turned out the way it did.”

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