SCARBOROUGH — Local police say an 87-year-old Scarborough man is “lucky to
be alive” after good Samaritans pulled him from a burning vehicle on Gorham
Road on April 6.
According to Scarborough Police Officer Brian Nappi, Roger
Snow was traveling west on Route 114 by the Nonesuch River at about 10:30 a.m.
when he had “some kind of a medical issue.” Snow’s vehicle, a 2011 Dodge Neon,
crossed into oncoming traffic and traveled “15-20 feet” down an embankment on
the far side of the road, where it struck a tree and caught fire.
Thankfully for Snow, passing motorists who saw the accident
rushed to his aid. First on scene was Steven Butler of Buxton, who Nappi says
pulled Snow from the car “just before it became fully engulfed in flames.”
Three other men – Jeremie Remain of Saco, Timothy
Vaillancourt of Parsonfield and David Dudley of Standish – then helped Butler
carry Snow back up the embankment to the roadside.
Several trees caught fire but, Nappi said, “the fire
department got there so quickly that it didn’t spread far, maybe 20 feet around
the vehicle.”
Snow was transported to Maine Medical Center with “minor injuries.”
“What I hear is that he’s doing good and they expect he’ll
make a full recovery,” said Nappi.
Dudley, a truck driver for Hannaford supermarkets, says he
was “right behind” Snow and saw the accident occur.
Deputy Fire Chief Glen Deering said Butler had "some
trouble" getting Snow out of the car because Snow has two artificial legs.
Although he did not notice artificial limbs or hand
controls, Dudley says Snow “did tell us he had something wrong with his legs.”
“I watched the vehicle go off the road,” said Dudley. “He
wasn’t going very fast, maybe 35 [mph], but for some reason he hit the throttle
which I think is what caused the fire, from the friction on what was very dry
marsh grass.”
Asked why he and the others risked themselves, Dudley was very
matter-of-fact.
“You can’t just stand by and watch something like that,” he
said.
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