As traffic backed up on Interstate 95 on central Maine for a car fire Wednesday, two separate chain-reaction crashes took place down the highway, sending five people to the hospital, police said.
Four vehicles were involved in each crash, police said Thursday — a big-rig truck that slammed into three cars ahead of it, closing the highway, and an SUV that did the same about a mile back at about the same time.
The car fire that initially backed up traffic was reported about 3:40 p.m. in Sidney, police said. Smoke poured from the fully engulfed Chrysler 300 — the driver was able to pull over and get out safely and one lane of traffic was closed.
About seven minutes later, the truck, an 18-wheeler carrying debris, wasn't able to slow down fast enough to avoid hitting the vehicles in front of it, police said. That crash, half a mile from the car fire, sent one person the hospital with minor injuries.
A mile down the highway at about the same time, the Jeep rear-ended the vehicle in front of her, causing a chain-reaction crash involving four vehicles and which left four people with minor injuries, police said.
