HOULTON, Maine — A multi-vehicle pileup on I-95 in Houlton Monday morning blocked both northbound lanes for nearly three hours, while those involved avoided life-threatening injuries, according to the Maine State Police.
The pileup began around 11 a.m. after Ricki Hammond, 45, of Washburn lost control of his 2003 Chevy sedan as he tried to pass a loaded H.O. Bouchard fuel truck on the northbound lanes of I-95 in Houlton, Maine State Police Cpl. Dennis Quint reported in a press release.
Hammond’s car lost traction, struck a guardrail and slid underneath the fuel truck before coming to rest in the middle of the road, Quint said.
The crash “caused a chain reaction” that involved four bucket trucks from Grand Falls, New Brunswick, a tractor trailer loaded with salt, and a pickup truck
Emergency personnel transported Hammond by ambulance to Houlton Regional Hospital with serious injuries that are not considered life threatening, Quint said. A passenger in one of the bucket trucks had face and leg injuries, but was not taken to a hospital.
The lanes were blocked for three hours while crews cleared the site and towed two of the bucket trucks, the tractor trailer and the sedan from the scene. Members of the Maine Warden Service and Houlton ambulance and fire departments assisted Quint at the scene.
