It was a firey scene on the Interstate around mile marker 174 Wednesday morning.

Carmel concrete truck fire 1, Maine State Police
Carmel concrete truck fire 1, Maine State Police
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Samantha Casella was heading towards Augusta, in the Southbound lane, just before 10 AM, when she came upon the situation.

Carmel Truck Fire 6, Samantha Casella
Carmel Truck Fire 6, Samantha Casella
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"Traffic was moving normally (although I did notice an ambulance way behind me with lights on)and then I could see the smoke in the air, then the flames then traffic came to a halt."

Casella said she had a big logging truck behind her when she saw the explosion.

"Thank God he had good brakes."

Carmel Truck Fire 8, Samantha Casella
Carmel Truck Fire 8, Samantha Casella
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"Then of course you see the other folks in the left lane trying to pass to drive straight into the cloud of black smoke and flames."

State Police Spokesperson, Shannon Moss, said that it all happened when a vehicle caught fire traveling down the road.

Carmel concrete truck fire 2, Maine State Police
Carmel concrete truck fire 2, Maine State Police
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"A concrete pumping truck with Flagship Pumping LLC out of Plymouth, Maine was traveling southbound on I-95 when a fire started in the engine compartment. The driver pulled over and the fire got more intense."

Carmel Truck Fire 3, Samantha Casella
Carmel Truck Fire 3, Samantha Casella
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"The Carmel Fire Department responded and put out the fire. The driver was not injured."

Carmel Truck Fire 7, Samantha Casella
Carmel Truck Fire 7, Samantha Casella
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Casella said she thought the fire took about 40 minutes to extinguish.

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Moss says Bouchard's Towing helped remove the truck from the roadway, but it took several hours to do so. She said that there was no word yet on what caused the fire.

Carmel Truck Fire 4, Samantha Casella
Carmel Truck Fire 4, Samantha Casella
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While the Interstate has seen its fair share of accidents, these intersections in Maine seem to be particular hot spots when it comes to crashes.

Top Ten Worst Bangor Intersections for Car Crashes

With a whole lot of help from the Maine Department of Transportation, we thought we’d dig up the facts and figures of intersection car crashes within the City of Bangor between 2019 and now.  

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Top 10 Worst Ellsworth Intersections For Crashes

Here are the 10 worst intersections for motor vehicle crashes in Ellsworth, Maine.

Gallery Credit: DJ Fred

LOOK: Here are the states where you are most likely to hit an animal

Hitting an animal while driving is a frightening experience, and this list ranks all 50 states in order of the likelihood of such incidents happening, in addition to providing tips on how to avoid them.

Gallery Credit: Dom DiFurio & Jacob Osborn

 

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