Icy roads cause rash of crashes

Black ice was blamed for a spate of accidents around the region Wednesday morning, including at least three that landed people in the hospital.

A dispatcher from Penobscot Regional Communications Center said she had handled minor accident calls from all over the area. “It was nuts,” the dispatcher said. “Completely.”

Maine State Police responded to eight emergency calls between 5:50 a.m. and 8 a.m., according to Sgt. Sean Hashey of the Orono barracks.

“Most of the bridges and overpasses were frozen today,” he said. “We had several accidents.”

In Belfast, two area men were injured when their pickup trucks collided on the city’s outskirts.

Daren W. Campbell, 37, of Belfast and Stephen Lancaster, 33, of Waldo were taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor following initial treatment at the Waldo County General Hospital after the 6:05 a.m. wreck on Route 137 near the Sheppard Road.

Patrolman Howard Dakin blamed the Belfast accident on road conditions.

Campbell had just turned onto Route 137 from Sheppard Road in a 1988 Ford pickup and was headed out of the city when he encountered a 1994 Ford pickup being driven in the opposite direction by Lancaster.

Lancaster’s truck skidded sideways and his driver’s compartment struck the front end of Campbell’s.

An EMMC spokesman said he could not provide any information on the condition of the two men. Dakin said it appeared that both drivers received neck, chest and internal injuries. It was not clear whether they had been wearing seat belts.

Another serious accident occurred at 6:44 a.m. on Interstate 395 in Bangor. Tammy Lunn, 20, of Brewer lost control of her 2002 Toyota Corolla while traveling in the westbound lane.

Lunn spun the car and came to a stop sideways across the passing lane. The next car to approach her was a small sedan driven by Constance Gilio, 21, of Bangor.

Gilio, who later told police that the sun was in her eyes, couldn’t stop in time and hit the Corolla in the right front passenger side. Gilio’s passenger, B-Jay Miles, 23, of Brewer, suffered a broken leg in the accident. Lunn apparently lost consciousness briefly.

Both were taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center, while Gilio apparently walked away from her damaged car. The air bags of both vehicles inflated, the trooper said. Gilio, Miles and Lunn were wearing seat belts.

“Speed was not necessarily a factor,” Hashey said. “Road conditions were the factor.”

An EMMC representative could not release any information about Lunn or Miles’ medical condition Wednesday afternoon. The accident had been cleared by 7:45 a.m.

A vehicle flipped on Route 222 in Hermon about 6:30 a.m.

Mary Calkins, 46, of Levant was traveling east when she lost control of her 1999 Isuzu at the top of Butler Hill.

“It went out of control and into the ditch,” said Sgt. Bill Laughlin, Hermon deputy for the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department. “It started to roll in the ditch and the top of it hit a tree, a huge tree.”

Calkins, who had been wearing a seat belt, complained of neck pain after the accident, Laughlin said. She was taken by a Bangor Fire Department vehicle to a local hospital for treatment.

No information about her condition was available later Wednesday. Her vehicle was destroyed.

“She’s a very fortunate lady,” he said.

BDN reporter Walter Griffin contributed to this report.