ETNA – An unidentified Etna man died Friday night when the car he was driving went off the road at mile marker 164 on Interstate 95. His wife, the only passenger in the vehicle, was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center with serious injuries, Etna Fire Chief Walter Gibbons said.

The car, which was headed north at about 8 p.m., appeared to have rolled over several times before landing on its roof in a thick stand of trees in the median. The car landed about 30 feet from the southbound lane, Gibbons said.

“We had to mow our own path through the trees just to get there,” Gibbons said. “[The vehicle] looked like it was 5 or 6 feet in the air before it went into the woods.”

Etna firefighters were familiar with the elderly couple involved in the accident, as they had fought a minor chimney fire at the couple’s home just months before. “They were just awesome people,” Gibbons said.

This was the first time Etna crews had used the Jaws of Life the department bought about a year ago.

“I’m pretty happy with our extrication,” Gibbons said. It took crews 30 to 45 minutes to remove the injured woman from the vehicle. Gibbons noted that the LifeFlight emergency rescue helicopter would have been used to take her to the hospital, but it wasn’t available due to weather conditions.

Confusion as to the accident’s location also bogged down rescue efforts. When the first call came in, it was believed the accident was in Newport.

It was only after Newport rescue crews failed to find the car after searching for about 10 minutes that Etna crews were dispatched.

The cause of the accident had not yet been determined. Etna Fire and Penobscot County Sheriff’s departments were still at the scene and investigating Friday evening.

Etna fire and rescue crews would like to thank an unidentified physician’s assistant who stopped to help in the rescue.

The first one on the scene, he already was stabilizing the injured woman when Etna crews arrived. Gibbons would appreciate it if the man would call the Etna Fire Department at 269-2328.