Two injured in Ellsworth accident Part of Route 1A closed to traffic Saturday night

ELLSWORTH – Two people were hurt, one of them seriously, when a truck carrying mail and a car collided head-on Saturday night on Route 1A in front of an antique car business, according to police.

A section of the highway more than 3 miles long was closed to traffic for more than three hours as emergency personnel worked first to get an Ellsworth couple out of their demolished car and then to document the accident before the vehicles were towed away.

Reginald Fletcher, 76, and Elma Fletcher, also 76, were taken by ambulance to Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth after they were freed from their 2001 Pontiac with the help of extrication equipment, Ellsworth police Officer Troy Bires said Sunday.

Reginald Fletcher later was taken by ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where he was in serious condition Sunday night, according to a nursing supervisor.

Elma Fletcher suffered a broken arm and abrasions in the accident, according to Bires. Her condition was unavailable Sunday night.

The driver of the 2000 Ford truck, Mark Oleson, 43, of Ellsworth, was uninjured in the wreck, according to Bires. Air bags in the Pontiac deployed, and all three people were wearing seat belts when the accident occurred, he said.

The accident happened at approximately 5:15 p.m. when Reginald Fletcher, driving the Pontiac south on the highway, drifted into the lane of oncoming traffic, Bires said. Oleson, driving the white panel truck with a cargo of U.S. mail north toward Hampden, tried to veer out of the way but the vehicles collided head-on, Bires said.

The impact of the accident broke one side of the truck’s front axle loose and smashed in the front end of the Pontiac, spinning the car around so it came to rest facing north in the middle of the road. The truck came to rest facing north in a snowbank on the right side of the road.

Bires said speed is not considered a factor in the accident. No charges are expected to be filed, he said.

Traffic was diverted onto Red Bridge and Christian Ridge roads while Route 1A was closed to traffic, according to Ellsworth Fire Chief Bob McKenney.

Maine State Police officers assisted Ellsworth police at the scene in reconstructing the accident.