By Dominik Lobkowicz
Two firefighters clean out the rear comparment of a burning mini-van as another, behind the van,
douses the interior with water. (D. Lobkowicz photo)
All three occupants of a mini-van that burned the afternoon of Dec. 27 escaped unharmed, but traffic was held up for an hour as emergency personnel dealt with the scene.
“It was all ablaze when I got on scene,” said Waldoboro Assistant Fire Chief William Maxwell.
Black smoke was visible above the scene for some distance away as the vehicle burned.
The van was a total loss, Maxwell said.
According to Waldoboro Police Officer Jeff Fuller, Edward Chickering, 55, of Bristol, was driving the van northbound up the hill with Sandra Ripley, 48, of Bristol, and Eugene Kelley, 62, of Damariscotta as passengers.
“They smelled something burning, they said it was transmission fluid,” Fuller said. “They said the transmission was slipping as they went up over the hill.”
All three were able to get out of the van without injury, he said.
Waldoboro Fire Department was paged out to the fire at 1:56 p.m., and though the fire was quickly extinguished, the road remained closed while emergency personnel waited for a truck to come and spread sand on ice built up on the roadway from the department’s efforts.
Traffic was stopped for nearly a mile and a half on the southern side of the accident. Traffic began to flow again just before 3 p.m.
