Drivers OK in unrelated vehicle fires on Route 2

The Mattawamkeag Fire Department battled two separate car fires on Route 2 on Saturday.

At about 8:30 a.m. the department was called to a car that had burst into flames on Route 2 in Winn. The driver had pulled the car to the side of the road and escaped the burning vehicle, but the car was a total loss, said Deputy Fire Chief Zane England.

The department was called out to the second car at 2:48 p.m., this time on Route 2 in Mattawamkeag.

“It was weird to have two of them in the same day,” England said.

The second fire was two miles from the fire station, and while the driver got out safely, the car was a total loss. England did not have specifics about the brand of cars or the drivers.

England said it would be difficult to determine the cause of the fires because the cars were so badly burned, though he did say electrical fires can start quickly and with little warning.

An Eddington man who allegedly fired two shots from his home as law enforcement stood outside was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for evaluation on Friday night.

“We are not alleging that he was firing at us specifically,” said Maine State Police Trooper Kyle Willette.

Willette said the 27-year-old man, who he would not name, was intoxicated in his home on Jarvis Gore Road when he started to make comments that made troopers and deputies fear for his welfare.

Nobody was injured in the incident, Willette said.

Firearms were confiscated from the home, and charges are pending, Willette said. The investigation remains open.

Willette would not say what charges the man may face.

Two Bangor police officers crashed their cruisers into one another in order to avoid hitting a pedestrian crossing Outer Hammond Street just after midnight Saturday, according to a police report.

Officer Chad Foley was driving from Interstate 395 through the light to Outer Hammond Street when Officer Gary Decker, who was merging onto Outer Hammond from Odlin Road, swerved to avoid a pedestrian and struck Foley.

Neither of the officers was injured, nor was the pedestrian, and no other vehicles were involved, according to police files.

Decker’s cruiser had approximately $1,000 in damage to the right rear of the car, while Foley’s cruiser had about $800 in damage to the left front fender area, according to police files.

Bangor Police Sgt. Ed Potter said he assumed the officers were both answering a call on Outer Hammond Street before the accident.

– COMPILED BY BDN REPORTER TONI-LYNN ROBBINS