Clifton logging truck accident seriously injures Stetson man

CLIFTON — A Stetson man was in serious condition at Eastern Maine Medical Center Tuesday after his tractor-trailer rolled over on Route 9 in Clifton earlier in the morning.

Thomas Tufts, 37, of Stetson was headed west on Route 9 near the Parks Pond Campground around 9 a.m. when apparently the four rear wheels separated from his logging truck. Logs from the truck were strewn across part of the road closing traffic down to one lane.

Trooper Philip Pushard said that Tufts reported hearing something at the back of his trailer snap before he went off the road. Pushard said a preliminary investigation showed that the trailer broke near where the rear set of wheels is attached to the bottom of the trailer’s frame.

The trailer’s cab was demolished, and side posts holding the logs in place were bent. Near where the rear wheels are attached, two large cracks nearly split the bottom frame of the trailer in half. Set aside from the truck, the rear section of wheels was placed upside down by the side of the road.

Trooper L.W. Gray with the state’s Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit, said an full examination of the truck would be made on Wednesday. And while he said he did not want to make speculations before the examination, he said that the back tires and brakes were in good condition, leading him to believe that they were not part of the problem.

Part of the investigation, he said, would be to determine whether the tandem separated just prior to the accident or had been broken or cracked for a while.

While State troopers worked on the investigation or guided the sometime heavy traffic through the area, Tom Maleck from the Department of Environmental Protection was busy trying to control the diesel and crank-case oil that had spilled from the cab into a small waterway at the edge of the road.

Maleck said he was concerned that the oil and diesel would flow from the side of the road to a culvert down the road and into the Parks Pond across the street.

With help from Eddington resident Lance Libbey and a skimmer, Maleck pumped the oil and diesel mixture from the water into large metal drums that Libbey had provided. Also at the scene working were troopers Barry Curtis and John Mahon.