Four Sisters Killed in Ashland, Maine
MWB
Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - Bangor Daily News
ASHLAND - Four sisters died instantly Monday when their car strayed into
the path of a tractor-trailer loaded with logs that ran over the car and
pushed it hundreds of feet down Route 11.
Police Chief Cyr Martin identified the sisters as Paige Long, 16,
Melinda "Mindy" Long, 15, Victoria Basso, 5, and Trinity Basso, 3.
The four were in a 1997 two-door Pontiac Sunfire.
Martin identified their parents as Joe and Deanna Basso of Ashland.
At about 11:30 a.m., the northbound car appeared to have strayed into
the driving lane of the southbound truck some four miles south of the
Ashland business district.
The impact left the car in a ditch on one side of Route 11. The truck
was rolled over into the ditch on the opposite side 200 feet farther
down the road.
The four sisters had just left home, about half a mile south of the
accident scene.
The car carrying the girls had just come around a slight curve, "just
enough to cause her [driver Paige Long] to go out of her lane," Martin said.
Traffic was stopped at the scene for hours. At 5:30 p.m., Martin said it
would be late evening before traffic could resume. The highway is the
shortest route between Sherman Mills and Fort Kent.
A Maine State Police accident reconstruction team was at the scene,
along with a unit of the Maine State Police Commercial Vehicle
Enforcement Section.
Representatives of the state Department of Environmental Protection and
the state Department of Transportation were present to clean up fuel and
debris.
On Monday afternoon, a long section of Route 11, starting just south of
the intersection with Rafford Road, was strewn with pieces of plastic
and metal from the automobile and the truck.
Oil, gasoline and diesel fuel covered several hundred feet of the
pavement. The odor of petroleum filled the air.
The accident occurred about 200 feet south of the Apostolic Pentecostal
Church, which is at the intersection of Route 11 and the Rafford Road.
The car, driven by Paige Long, apparently strayed into the southbound
lane. The driver of the truck noticed the car and tried to veer right,
but the truck ran over the vehicle.
Gerald Bean, 39, of Enfield, driver of the 2005 Freightliner truck, was
headed south in a truck owned by Dunn's Express of Howland. The truck
had been loaded in Portage Lake.
Bean suffered only minor bruises and refused treatment, Martin said.
Both vehicles were demolished.
"The car seemed to be on the wrong side of the road," Martin said. "The
trucker tried to react, but he could not.
"He ran right over the car and dragged it several hundred feet before
the two vehicles split from each other," he said. "The truck continued
and rolled over in the ditch."
Martin said the car probably was headed for Ashland Community High
School so that the 15-year-old sister could go to a ballgame. The two
older sisters were students at the school.
Volunteer firefighters oversaw two roadblocks, one at the intersection
of Routes 11 and 163, at the southern outlet of the business district,
and one just north of the accident scene.
Southbound traffic was detoured through the Garfield Road, which
re-enters Route 11 south of the accident site.
Another roadblock was established just south of the accident scene.
A brisk wind from the northwest made the day very cold.
Around 2 p.m., volunteers brought the emergency personnel food and coffee.
A volunteer firefighter at the scene said emergency workers were having
a hard time: Most of them knew the four who died.
"The girls were related, like nieces, of several people on the ambulance
department," Martin said. "Some of them are having a rough time. ...
This is a very small town, and this is felt all over town," he said.
"Some people are stressed right out. They are taking this very hard."
Stress management teams were called in, Martin said. He said the two
older girls were well known around the high school.
Martin, who is also the chairman of the SAD 32 board, said he approved
assistance for grieving students Monday afternoon.
MWB
license policy. I do know it is against the law for a 16 year old driver to
have a passenger that doesn't hold a valid drivers license. I don't believe
for one minute that the parents didn't know that she was driving illegally.
Mark
abby again
"MWB" <mark.b...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:fkm1g.2275$9.561@trndny04...
In North Carolina, some of those restrictive rules have an exception for
family members.
MWB
"abby again" <noonek...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:124ccm4...@corp.supernews.com...
I mentioned this to my wife and she told me I'm wrong, there are exceptions
for family members in Maine.
Mark
ch...@mcgill.ca
wrote:
Someone should rethink that. I can (barely) think it might be
appropriate to have an older, non-licensed relative with you, but not
a carful of little kids. Isn't the point of having someone with you to
provide you with supervision and a reminder to slow down?
Kent
MWB
"Kent" <ke...@ixnayonthesamspay-deadoraliveinfo.com> wrote in message
news:EK2dnVSz1I_...@comcast.com...
>A Pontiac Sunfire versus a logging truck. Not a fair match.
>
There was nothing left of this car and the first responders were relatives
of the family. Ashland is a town of about 1500 so this stuff happens when a
tragedy strikes.
Mark