CROSS LAKE – An early-morning collision on Route 161 Monday left a Fort Fairfield man with fractured ribs and legs, and he remained in surgery late in the day at Northern Maine Medical Center.

Kurt Forsman, 36, was injured in the head-on crash which took place about 7:30 a.m. 11 miles south of Fort Kent.

Police said Alice Levasseur, 28, of Sly Brook Road in Eagle Lake and Eric Deabay, 27, of Ashland both were treated for injuries and later released from NMMC.

Forsman was a passenger in a pickup truck driven by Deabay which was struck by a 1995 Subaru being driven south by Levasseur.

Maine State Police Trooper Tim Saucier said Levasseur told police she was just coming out of a curve in the road when she swerved into the left-hand lane to avoid a fox.

Saucier said Deabay, driver of the 2001 Chevrolet pickup owned by Theriault Sheet Metal Inc. of Brewer, told police he waited as long as he could before veering into the southbound lane.

About the same time, Levasseur turned back into her lane and the two vehicles collided.

It took more than an hour for rescuers to extricate Forsman from the truck.

“The air bags saved more serious injuries,” Saucier said. “They were belted in, and with the air bags, it was all a big help.”

Saucier said there would be no reconstruction of the accident.

“It is clear what happened,” he said. “It was a pure, simple accident, and Levasseur is at fault.”

Both vehicles were demolished, Saucier said.

The rescue involved emergency personnel from Maine State Police, Ambulance Service Inc. of Fort Kent and St. Agatha, and the Fort Kent Volunteer Fire Department.