Marjorie Whitehurst of Head Tide Road in Alna is safe at home after a drive down the steep riverbank across the street from her house.
Emergency responders do not know how or why Whitehurst and her Dodge sedan went off the side of the southbound lane around 8:30 a.m. today. As of 9:15 a.m., the car was still at the bottom of the riverbank with the rear wheels in the Sheepscot River.
Whitehurst was already out of the car when emergency crews began to arrive.
Alna and Wiscasset firefighters and first responders climbed down the steep embankment, strapped Whitehurst to a backboard and raised her to the road with a rope.
Emergency Medical Technicians examined Whitehurst in an ambulance before she was released and walked back to her house. “I feel fine,” she said on her way home.
“It could have been worse,” Alna Assistant Fire Chief Roger Whitney said. “It could have been out in the middle of the river.”
The swift current would have made for a challenging rescue scenario, Whitney said.
The Alna Fire Department, Alna First Responders, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Wiscasset Ambulance Service and the Wiscasset Fire Department responded to the scene.
Alna Assistant Fire Chief Roger Whitney said he expects the Department of Environmental Protection to assist at the scene as a precautionary measure in case of a fluid spill from the vehicle into the river.
Bob Blagden of Blagden’s Garage will remove the vehicle.
