PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — A Fort Fairfield man was killed in a four-vehicle accident caused in part by wind and snow creating whiteout conditions Monday morning, police said.
Philip Bird, 60, of Fort Fairfield was heading westbound on Conant Road in his 2008 Chevrolet pickup when it collided head-on with a city-owned plow truck driven by Wayne Howlett, 40, of Mapleton, according to Presque Isle police Chief Matthew Irwin.
After both vehicles had stopped, a Ford Escape driven by David Hayes, 63, and his passenger, 22-year-old Roman Yoder, both of Fort Fairfield pulled up to a stop behind the plow truck, Irwin said.
A loaded logging truck operated by Leigh Gordon, 56, of Ashland didn’t see the SUV, however, and struck it from behind, pushing it into the plow truck, trapping Yoder and Hayes in the vehicle, the chief said.
Bird and Gordon were not injured, but Yoder was pronounced dead at the scene while Hayes suffered life-threatening injuries and was transported by Life Flight to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Irwin said.
The crash remains under investigation, but whiteout conditions were a contributing factor, the police chief said.
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