A morning commute made treacherous by freezing rain resulted in dozens of reported crashes Friday in central and southern Maine.

As emergency crews were reopening lanes on the Maine Turnpike following a tractor-trailer jack-knifing near Gray, numerous other crashes were being reported.

Most were reports of slide-offs and minor crashes, with the Maine Turnpike reducing the speed limit to 45 m.p.h.

On Thursday, the National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory taking effect 3 a.m. Friday and lasting through 10 a.m., based on icy conditions caused by freezing rain.

In Androscoggin County, multiple motor vehicles accidents were reported in Lewiston, Auburn, Lisbon, Livermore Falls, Mechanic Falls and Greene.

Lewiston Public Works Director Dale Doughty said sanding trucks were “touching up and hitting hot spots” on city streets as rain fell and temperatures hovered around freezing Friday morning.

Lewiston Police Lt. David St. Pierre said only three crashes were reported in the city between 7 and 11 a.m.

“Hopefully, people will drive prudently because you just never know what you’re going to run into,” when roads appear to be clear, but could be glazed with ice, Doughty said.

He said sidewalks appeared to be more slippery than roadways earlier, but had improved as sidewalk sanding progressed and temperatures rose.

In Auburn, Police Chief Jason Moen said the department covered six accidents Friday morning, five on Riverside Drive and one northbound on Washington Street.

“All were slide-offs due to the icy conditions. No serious injuries,” he said.

In Franklin County, crashes were reported in Farmington, Chesterville and New Sharon.

“It was a busy morning for first responders in Franklin County,” Sheriff Scott Nichols wrote in a press report, “when rain met frozen roads, turning a main roadway into an icy skating rink, to the point where first responders were slipping and falling at the accident scenes. … Even sand trucks were having a difficult time with the rain and ice.”

At 7:30 a.m., Nichols was dispatched to a head-on collision between a car and a tractor-trailer on Route 2 in New Sharon. Police said Heather Starbuck, 46, of Wilton, had been heading east when she lost control of her Honda while negotiating a corner. That caused her car to slide into the left side of a westbound Western Star tractor-trailer loaded with logs.

“The truck driver did his best to avoid the car,” Nichols wrote, “but road conditions were just too icy.”

Starbuck’s Honda bounced off the truck and ended up in a field on the other side of the street, Nichols said. She was taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital to be treated for her injuries.

The driver of the truck, Duncan McLain, 21, of Madison was not hurt.

At about 8 a.m., two miles away from the earlier crash, police went to another wreck on Farmington Falls Road in New Sharon. There, police said Andrew Cordes, 22, of Augusta lost control of his Toyota, slid across the eastbound lanes and struck several trees. Cordes was taken to FMH to be examined.

At 8:48 a.m., on the Rome side of Mile Hill Road in New Sharon, police said Lee Ann Delcourt, 44, of Carrabassett Valley was traveling south in a Ford F-150 when she lost control, crossed over the northbound lane and skidded into the woods. There were three kids in the truck at the time, police said, though none were injured.

An ambulance was called to transport Delcourt to get medical attention, but the medical responders’ arrival didn’t go as planned.

“As Northstar rescue was attempting to negotiate the myriad of cars and rescue vehicles at the intersection of Farmington Falls road and Philbrick Street in Farmington,” Nichols wrote, “the driver of the ambulance lost control and ran off the road into a utility pole, snapping it in half, causing the (pole) to crash down on top of the unit — which created a brilliant flash of electricity trapping the rescue personnel inside until CMP could arrive at the scene to shut the power down.”

At 9:30 a.m., Frankly County dispatchers got word of multiple vehicles off Weld Road in Perkins Township. Those wrecks, as it turned out, were minor — just more messes to be cleaned up after the chaos of the morning.

“First responders from the New Sharon Fire Department and the Farmington Fire Department, as well as the road crew from the town of Farmington, multiple units from DOT and CMP personnel were all key players in cleaning up the scenes,” Nichols wrote.

In Oxford County, there were accident reports in Rumford, Peru and Canton.

In Rumford, there were two accidents.

Cooper Davis, 17, of Rumford was traveling south on South Rumford Road when his car slid off the road, struck a utility pole and caught fire, Sgt. James Bernard of the Rumford Police Department said on Friday afternoon.

Davis was transported to a local hospital for a minor injury and complaint of pain, and he was treated and released, Bernard said.

The 2011 Volkswagen Jetta was a “total loss” from the accident. As of the early afternoon, Central Maine Power was attempting to restore power to the area, Bernard said.

Another accident on Route 2 involved driver Mariah Pelletier, 19, of Rumford who lost control of her vehicle and struck a utility pole, totaling the 2008 Subaru.

Pelletier and her passenger were not injured and there was no damage to the pole, Rumford Officer Austin Couture said.

“There were a lot of slide-off roads, fender benders, but nothing significant,” Franklin County Emergency Management Agency Assistant Director Amanda Simoneau said mid-day. “Around 9 a.m. an ambulance slid off the road into a CMP pole.”

“For about an hour-and-a-half to two hours it was almost nonstop,” Simoneau said. “The road crews were out doing the best they could. It was about the same as everywhere else.”

The scanner in the Farmington office of the Sun Journal, Franklin Journal and Livermore Falls Advertiser indicated a sand truck went off Weld Road in Perkins Township.

According to the dispatch log, accidents were also reported Friday morning in Chain of Ponds, Jay, Madrid Township, Perkins Township and Wilton. Most of them involved property damage only.

This story will be updated. 

Staff writers Christopher Williams, Andrew Rice, Marianne Hutchinson and Pam Harnden contributed to this story. 

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PHOTO: A break from the ice