Traffic was snarled on a busy 2 mile stretch of Route 27 after a series of accidents occurred within 30 minutes on July 9.

At 3:28 p.m., Boothbay Region Ambulance Service responded to a man who had fallen off residential roof. Herb Reno of Bath, 46, was working on a peaked rooftop at 983 Wiscasset Road when he slipped and fell about 25 feet to the ground.

Derek Averill, a tenant of the apartment building said he was home when Reno fell.

“He seemed all right. He was talking to me,” Averill said. “The medical guys made sure he didn't move though.”

Reno was loaded into a gurney and transported to St. Andrews Hospital in Boothbay Harbor.

Car collides with dump truck

At 3:31 p.m. Sergeant Jason Nein of Lincoln County Sheriff's Office responded to a scene of an accident that occurred at 702 Wiscasset Road.

Timothy Merrill of Edgecomb, 47, was traveling northbound in a Chevrolet dump truck owned by N.A. Reny Construction when he noticed a southbound Lincoln Town Car operated by Suzanne Aronowitz of New York, 75, crossing the center line.  

Merrill steered to the right to avoid Aronowitz, but the sedan struck the rear, driver-side wheels of the dump truck head on, causing Merrill to drive off the road into an embankment. The sedan slid to a stop in the southbound lane, sustaining significant damage to the front end of the vehicle.

Neither Aronowitz or her husband were injured in the accident, but Merrill was transported to St. Andrews Hospital for observation; and he released later that evening, according to Sergeant Nein.

“I don't believe high speed was a factor,” Nein said. “Fortunately everybody was wearing their seat belt, so it reduced the risk of injury.”

Three-vehicle collision

Shortly after responding to the dump truck accident, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to another accident that occurred in front of 494 Wiscasset Road at 4:01 p.m., involving three vehicles all traveling southbound.

A Subaru operated by Alice Larrabee of Boothbay, 87, had slowed down to turn into her driveway. Larrabee was being followed by a GMC pickup truck operated by James Norman of Boothbay Harbor, 70.

As Norman slowed down, an SUV hauling a trailer, operated by Timothy Stephenson of Southport, 48, failed to see the stopped vehicles ahead of him, and slammed into the back of Norman's GMC, causing a chain reaction of fender-benders.

Norman was transported to St. Andrews Hospital to be treated for a possible head or neck injury, but was released later that night, according to Nein.

“Driver inattention contributed to the accident, and following too closely in the part of Mr. Stephenson,” Nein said.  

Nein said traffic accidents are more common near vacation destinations, because drivers are feeling more restless or impatient, especially after sitting through traffic in Wiscasset.  

“Route 27 is a fairly narrow roadway for the type of traffic that it handles. During this time of year as traffic volume increases, so does the likelihood of crashes,” Nein said.