Canaan teen ‘serious’ after log truck crash

CANAAN – A Canaan teen was upgraded to serious condition Monday night after suffering injuries in an accident involving a log truck earlier in the day.

According to Deputy Mike Knight of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department, Christopher Cormier, 19, was turning left from the Hill Road onto Route 2 just after 11:30 a.m. when the car he was driving was struck broadside by a 1988 Freightliner 18-wheeler driven by Richard Ellis Sr., 50, of Alton.

Two cars behind the accident, Pittsfield police Officers Brian Golder and Nick Fletcher were returning to Pittsfield from court in Skowhegan, Knight said. In addition to rendering first aid to Cormier, the officers used a fire extinguisher from their car to put out a fire that sprang up in Cormier’s car.

Cormier, who suffered a collapsed lung and broken rib, leapt through the passenger-side window when the fire started, Knight said. Cormier was taken to Redington-Fairview Hospital in Skowhegan where he was in critical condition. He later was flown by helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

Cormier’s 1990 Oldsmobile sedan was a complete loss, Knight said, and the log truck, which was not carrying a load at the time of the accident, had $1,500 in damage. Ellis was not injured. The accident remained under investigation Monday night.