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LEBANON, ME - The Lebanon Rescue Department, Maine State Police and Lebanon Fire Department responded to a motor vehicle accident on Wednesday evening, April 15, 2009. The accident was reported to involve a car that had struck a moose and the driver was unconscious at the scene. The accident occurred on the Milton Mills Road in North Lebanon near Juniper Lane (by 136 Milton Mills Road). The accident was reported to the 911 Center at Maine State Police in Gray at 8:40 p.m.

Assistant Rescue Chief Jason Cole arrived on scene within 5 minutes of the accident and located two vehicles that had collided head on blocking the south bound lane of the Milton Mills Road.

“The 1999 Ford Escort was traveling north on Milton Mills Road near Juniper Lane when it struck a moose that was in the roadway. After striking the moose, the car then slammed into a car that had stopped to try to warn people there was a moose in the roadway. The second car, a 2000 Volvo sedan, was unoccupied at the time of the collision as the operator was talking to another vehicle that had stopped for the moose in the roadway. The third vehicle was not damaged.” Assistant Chief Jason Cole added. “The driver felt part of the moose hit his face; he is very lucky the moose did not come completely into the car and injure him more seriously.”

The driver of the Ford Escort advised the moose came through the windshield and then rolled off the car. The driver, a 47 year old male from North Lebanon, was conscious and alert when rescue crews arrived. He had to be extricated with the Jaws of Life from the vehicle. The patient was extricated from the vehicle at 9:25pm, about 45 minutes after the accident occurred. Emergency crews had to remove the roof of the vehicle to remove the patient from the vehicle and then loaded the patient into Lebanon Ambulance One. The patient was then transported to Goodall Hospital in Sanford with what are believed to be non-life threatening injuries. It is unknown at this time if the driver was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the collision, but the vehicle airbags did deploy. He was alone in the vehicle.

The driver of the parked 2000 Volvo was a 23-year-old male from Lebanon. He saw the vehicle collide with the moose and was able to run away from his stopped vehicle and was not struck.

The moose, which was a bull moose about 2-years-old and weighed approximately 600 pounds, was killed in the initial collision.

Milton Mills Road was closed for about two hours until the vehicles could be removed from the roadway. The road was reopened around 10:30 p.m.

“Lebanon Rescue recently held a training exercise with the fire department in which we trained on patient extrication from difficult collisions. That training paid off tonight, all of the rescue and fire personnel worked together very well and did an extremely good job extricating the patient from the vehicle.” Assistant Chief Jason Cole added. “We were also very fortunate to have several rescue personnel arrive quickly at the scene, we had 16 Lebanon Rescue personnel on scene quickly to help.”

Trooper Ross of the Maine State Police is investigating the accident.

Both vehicles were totaled in the accident and had to be towed from the scene.

“It can be very difficult to see a moose that’s in the roadway at night. The driver of the vehicle advised he did not see it until the collision was about to occur. We usually respond to a couple accidents involving moose each year.” Assistant Chief Jason Cole added.

Responding to the scene was an EMS Command Vehicle and Ambulance from Lebanon Rescue, 2 engines from Lebanon Fire and the Maine State Police.