MDI crash hurts 2, knocks out power

MOUNT DESERT – Mount Desert Island’s Quietside went over to the dark side Monday night after a pickup truck hit a utility pole, leaving two men in the hospital and parts of five towns plunged into darkness.

The crash happened at 5:40 p.m. on Route 102 on the Mount Desert-Southwest Harbor town line near Echo Lake, close to the Appalachian Mountain Club.

Police officers did not identify the driver of the Dodge Dakota pickup truck or his passenger or release information about the accident or the men’s medical conditions.

Officers weren’t sure what direction the truck was traveling when the driver lost control.

“They hit a telephone pole and downed the telephone pole,” Officer Chris Smith of the Mount Desert Police Department said at the scene.

Flashing red and blue lights of emergency vehicles illuminated the foggy night at 7:30 as officers waited for crews from Bangor Hydro Electric Co. to arrive and pull downed, dead power lines off the road.

At the time of the accident, road conditions were wet but not slippery and the temperature was 40 degrees, a Mount Desert police dispatcher said.

Route 102, the major thoroughfare between Mount Desert and Southwest Harbor, was closed for hours as emergency workers cleared the scene.

Electricity was knocked out in Southwest Harbor, the Cranberry Isles, Swans Island and parts of Mount Desert and Tremont. The village of Somesville looked deserted until the faint gleam of candlelight could be spotted through some windows.

The Somesville On The Run convenience store and gas station, by contrast, was brightly illuminated. Its generator kicked on after power went out, and employees reported doing a brisk business in flashlights, batteries and other essentials.

“We sold tons of pizzas and candles and tasty treats,” employee Ray Harding said.