By Dominik Lobkowicz
Despite chains on the rear tires and cautious, slow driving, this Jefferson fire truck went off the side of Ice Hill on Route 32 after freezing rain iced up roads in Jefferson the morning of Nov. 30, according to Fire Chief Walter Morris. (Photo courtesy Walter Morris) |
A sudden onset of freezing rain in Jefferson the morning of Nov. 30 caught road crews off guard and led to dozens of accidents and slide-offs, including one of the town’s fire
trucks sliding off the road, according to state and local officials.
“This was kind of an unexpected event for us,” said Mikes Burns, manager of DOT’s Region 2. “It was a possibility, but looking at radar there was nothing falling for
precipitation, and we thought it was going from Portland out to sea.”
After the freezing rain hit, “there were dozens” of vehicles off the road or in accidents at various locations in Jefferson that morning, according to Fire Chief
Walter Morris. “It was just a sheet of ice,” he said.
Jefferson Fire and Rescue was first paged out to a two-vehicle accident involving a rollover on Waldoboro Road (Route 32) on Beach Hill near Damariscotta Lake State
Park at about 7:30 a.m., Morris said, and soon thereafter responded to an accident on Ice Hill on Augusta Road (Route 32).
The department’s rescue pumper was headed to the accident on Ice Hill when, despite chains on the truck’s rear tires and slow, cautious driving, it slid off the side
of the hill into the ditch, Morris said.
There was no damage or injury, but Blagden’s Wrecker Service had to come from Wiscasset to pull the truck out, Morris said.
The fire department ended up shutting down Route 32 at the accidents on Beach Hill and Ice Hill and part of Route 126 because of accidents over there, Morris said.
For the first time this season, but the third time in less than a year, Jefferson’s local contracted road crews were called in to sand at least part of the state
roads in town.
Joe Westrich, a communications supervisor at Lincoln County 911 Communications Center, said he made the call to have Jefferson’s crews sand at least Beach Hill and
Ice Hill so an ambulance coming from Waldoboro could safely make it to a medical call on the far side of those accident scenes.
Westrich said he made the call to ensure the safety of not only the ambulance, but also the emergency responders at the accident scenes.
“We’ve got to get the scene safe for our folks,” he said.
Morris said the state roads were the issue that morning, and said he didn’t see a state truck roll through until several hours after he’d been on scene at the Beach
Hill accident.
“The local roads were fine because the local crews got out and put sand down on” them, Morris said.
Burns, however, said a DOT truck had made a pass down Route 32 before the town crews sanded that road. The state crews for the Jefferson area were called out a
little before 7 a.m., he said.
The truck did have some mechanical issues with its salt spreader, but in such a weather event the DOT applies its rock salt and salt brine near the center of the
road – a faster method of clearing the road, Burns said.
Despite the spreader issues, the truck was applying the salt at the quantity that was needed, he said.
“With all this happening, the state highways were in pretty reasonable shape by 9 or 9:30, not completely free of ice – there were patches – but a lot was bare and
wet” by that time, he said.
“Certainly we’re fine if the road needs a little more attention, particular for emergency services, any town can treat the road,” Burns said.
Jefferson Road Commissioner Alan Johnston said the town may try to seek reimbursement from DOT for the cost of its contractors sanding portions of state roads that
morning or, if that fails, possibly from Lincoln County.
The town was reimbursed by the state for sanding during a freezing rain event last January where a DOT truck got stuck on Route 32 and roads were shut down for
several hours, according to The Lincoln County News archives.
“It’s very unusual circumstances going on with these ice storms. I think the town made the right decision to sand both these roads to get them back open,” Burns said
at the time. “We’re going to reimburse the town for sanding the roads, just cause it’s a very unusual circumstance.”
The town was not reimbursed in a separate event last winter because it was determined not to have been an emergency, according to Johnston.
