A mattress fell off a pickup truck and crashed into a car behind it on I-395 in Bangor around 5:45 p.m. Friday, sparking a fire in the car, which in turn resulted in an accident.

No injuries were reported in the accidents, although the circumstances were similar enough to a fatal accident in Lincoln earlier this month to prompt a warning by police about taking extra precautions on the interstate. Police also are looking to find the driver of the pickup truck that lost the mattress.

State Trooper Kyle Willette said that Petria Hill, 33, of Brewer was heading east on I-395 in Bangor, near Exit 2, when the mattress on a pickup truck ahead of her blew off and crashed into her windshield, smashing the glass. Unable to see, Hill managed to slow her vehicle and come to a stop after pulling into the passing lane. The mattress slid forward and became lodged underneath the car, where it caught fire, Willette said. The fire spread to the engine before Bangor firefighters put it out.

Another motorist, Erin Ferland, 19, of New Hampshire, came to a stop quickly behind Hill’s car and got out to assist. The driver of a third car swerved to avoid hitting the Ferland car and struck a guardrail to the left and then struck the side of Ferland’s car. Willette said the accident was still under investigation, including the identity of the driver of the dark-colored pickup truck, who kept driving despite indications that he knew something had happened.

In slightly different circumstances, the accident could have been worse, Willette said, recalling the Dec. 15 accident in Lincoln where three people were killed, two of them part of a family that had stopped to help a motorist who had struck a moose on the interstate.

In light of the accidents, Willette urged motorists to take extra precautions when they see an accident or other hazard on the road, including slowing down and passing the hazard in the lane farthest away from it.

A man whom Old Town police suspected was intoxicated claimed he couldn’t do a field sobriety test requiring him to recite numbers backward because he was incoherent and couldn’t read.

That excuse, however, didn’t stop the man from trying to recite the numbers from 67 to 54, much of which he got, although he repeated some numbers out of place, according to the police report.

There were other clues that suggested that Raymond Lester Foss, 45, might have been intoxicated, according to Old Town police Officer Chris Hashey. The officer reported that Foss’ speech was slurred and there was the smell of alcohol. Foss admitted to having a few beers and claimed that he didn’t think he was intoxicated and that he could pass the tests. When asked to assess the effects of the beer, on a scale of one to 10, with one being sober and 10 being falling-down drunk, Foss told Hashey, “I am falling-down drunk obviously.”

Under the circumstances, Hashey arrested Foss on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants. Inside the cruiser, Foss became belligerent, claiming his handcuffs were too tight, and began spitting on the interior of the cruiser.

Foss’ blood alcohol content registered 0.13 percent on the Intoxilyzer test, or more than 11/2 times the legal limit of 0.08 percent. Foss’ station wagon was stopped after Hashey observed it near South Water Street with an expired registration that turned out to belong on another vehicle.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Doug Kesseli