An Aroostook County truck driver and his passenger escaped injury early Monday morning after the tractor-trailer they were in went off the road and crashed in Fryeburg, Maine.

Police say that around 5:30 a.m., 24-year-old Joshua Hafford of St. Francis was operating a 1998 Peterbilt loaded with seed potatoes on Route 302 when he apparently dozed off at the wheel.

The truck left the roadway, crashed through a guardrail, striking trees and a utility pole. The tractor-trailer came to rest on its side about 75 feet off the road on the banks of Dead Lake Stream.

Fryeburg Police, Fryeburg Fire & Rescue and Maine State Police Commercial Division responded to the scene.

Fryeburg Police Chief Joshua Potvin said driver fatigue appears to have played a major role in the crash. Hafford had reportedly left Caribou around midnight and had been on the road about 5 1/2 hours. He and his 20-year-old female passenger were uninjured.

Fryeburg Police Dept.
Fryeburg Police Dept.
loading...

Maine Department  of Environmental Protection was called in to assist with the containment of fuel leaking into Dead Lake Stream, which empties into the Saco River.

The Bridgton Road (Rt. 302) was closed for several hours Monday while crews attended to cleanup at the scene. Fryeburg police say the crash remains under investigation.

More From