Rescue bid fails to save crash victim Jackson woman pulled from blazing vehicle

JACKSON – Despite a daring rescue effort by a Waldo County sheriff’s deputy, a Jackson woman died Friday from injuries suffered in a head-on crash the night before.

Rinda Neil, 44, of Jackson died about 2 a.m. Friday at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, according to Waldo County Chief Deputy John Ford.

The department received a complaint Thursday evening from a patron at the Country Rose bar in Jackson that someone had backed into a car in the parking lot and took off, Ford said Friday. The customer got the license plate number and called police.

When the registration number was checked, a report came back showing the vehicle was owned by Neil.

On the way to Neil’s house on the Bogg Road at 10:50 p.m., Deputy Matt Curtis spotted a car on fire in the woods. The vehicle had hit a tree head-on.

The deputy grabbed a fire extinguisher, doused the 15- to 20-foot-high flames and smashed the car window with a flashlight.

At first he was unable to free Neil, who was alone in the car, but once his adrenaline got going, Curtis ripped the steering wheel out of the car and managed to remove the victim, the chief deputy said.

Curtis could not be reached Friday for comment.

Ford, Maine State Police officers and fire departments from Brooks and Jackson also responded to the call and tried to save the woman. Neil was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center, where she later died of her injuries, Ford said.

Ford praised the efforts of Curtis, as well as the other law enforcement officers and rescue personnel who responded.

The vehicle was destroyed. A blood-alcohol test was done on the accident victim, but the results were not yet available.