A vigorous winter storm started wreaking havoc for motorists and emergency personnel Sunday evening, well into Monday.
Unsafe speed and blizzard conditions appear to be the cause of a fatal accident in Wells Sunday night, according to police reports.
On Dec. 26, at 7:29 p.m. Richard Folsom, 59, of Wells, was driving a GMC pickup truck east on Wire Road, according to a press release from the Wells Police Department. The vehicle slowly drifted off the road and hit a tree straight on, according to the release. The accident occurred near the 800 block of Wire Road and no others vehicles were involved, according to the press release.
Folsom was pronounced dead at Southern Maine Medical Center at 10:24 p.m.
Snow had just begun to fall Sunday in Waterboro when a car slid off the road unto a utility pole on Route 5. At 6:30 p.m., Route 5 had been shut down for 1 1/4 hours because of wires in the roadway, said Fire Chief Matt Bors.
Injuries in that crash were thought to be minor. As Bors was talking about the Route 5 mishap that evening, he and the other rescue workers were called away to another crash.
Virtually all York County municipalities that use parking bans to make it easier for public works crews to clear streets announced the bans on Sunday.
Blizzard warnings were posted early and Gov. John Baldacci on Sunday declared a state of emergency. He also ordered a state government closure for today, which means only emergency and essential personnel were to report to work.
“The National Weather Service is warning of extremely dangerous conditions,” Baldacci said. “The best advice is to avoid all unnecessary travel, to stay off the roads and allow road crews and emergency responders to do their work.”
In Lebanon, selectmen on Sunday decided to close the Town Office and the transfer station Monday. Town offices in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Old Orchard Beach and Wells were schedueld to open at noon today. York County Superior Court in Alfred was closed, as was the York District Court, but according to online postings, Biddeford and Springvale District Courts were scheduled to open at noon.
Some banks, like Sanford Institution for Savings, were schedueld to open their branches at 11 a.m. and Kennebunk Savings Bank locations were to open at noon today.
“All of our town departments are ready and we just encourage people to stay off the roads if they can,” Lebanon Board of Selectmen chairman Jason Cole said.
According to a release from the governor’s office issued Sunday, the Maine Emergency Management Agency joins the National Weather Service office in Gray and Caribou in urging all Mainers and visitors to stay off the roads, pay close attention to weather warnings and stay safe.
As of 6 a.m., Central Maine Power reported 318 customers without power because of the storm, with most of the outages concentrated in the Alfred area.
In a press release on Sunday, CMP stated that it had activated its emergency response teams Saturday night to ready crews and to contact neighboring utilities and private contractors for additional assistance if needed.
The power company stated in the release that drivers should use caution when approaching utility crews or downed wires in roadways.
“Everyone should stay clear of any downed power lines and trees or limbs that may be tangled in the lines,” said CMP Spokesman John Carroll. “These should all be considered live and dangerous. Customers should leave the clean-up to our crews, who are trained and equipped to handle these situations safely.”
If outages occur, CMP customers should call the toll-free outage hotline at 1-800-696-1000.
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