January 23

Newport man injured in head-on crash

By Erin Rhoda erhoda@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

PALMYRA -- A Newport man was seriously injured after his van collided head-on with a pickup truck on Warren Hill Road on Sunday.

Roger Greenlaw, 51, was flown by LifeFlight helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Deputy Jeremy Leal, with the Somerset County Sheriff's Office, said at the scene.

While Leal did not know the extent of his injuries, he said Greenlaw was fading in and out of consciousness. Both vehicles were destroyed in the 9:30 a.m. crash; the impact compressed their front ends about three feet.

Greenlaw had been traveling west with his 10-year-old daughter in the front passenger seat when his 2006 Ford van drifted into the opposite lane on a curve near 743 Warren Hill Road and struck a pickup truck head-on.

Leal said speed may have been a factor in the crash. The road also had many icy patches.

Everett Graham, 80, of St. Albans, was driving the oncoming 2004 Ford F150 pickup. His wife, Phyllis, 74, sat in the passenger seat. Both sustained chest injuries and were taken by ambulance to Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield.

An ambulance took Greenlaw to Hartland Consolidated School, where LifeFlight touched down to bring him to the Bangor hospital.

A spokeswoman at Eastern Maine Medical Center said she did not have a status update on Greenlaw. Everyone had been wearing seat belts; the airbags in both vehicles deployed.

"Obviously those were some factors that prevented more serious injuries," Leal said.

Greenlaw's 10-year-old daughter, who Leal did not name because of her age, will be fine. She complained of wrist pain, Leal said.

Tim Kuespert, Hartland assistant fire chief, said rescue workers closed about a two-mile stretch of Warren Hill Road for a couple hours.

He knew of at least one other serious crash that had occurred nearby on the road.

"Slow down, watch the conditions," he cautioned. "We hope the best for the families."

In addition to the sheriff's office and Hartland firefighters, St. Albans firefighters, Maine State Police and Sebasticook Valley ambulance responded.

Erin Rhoda -- 612-2368

erhoda@centralmaine.com

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