Vehicle Collides Head-On With Tractor Trailer in Hamlin

A Van Buren couple was seriously injured in an early morning crash in Hamlin on Monday.

Maine State Police responded to Route 1A in Hamlin at around 8:20 a.m. for a report of a motor vehicle accident involving a tractor trailer and a car, according to Sgt. Brian Harris. 

Police say 35-year-old Michel Gauvreau of Grand Falls, N.B. was northbound in a 2011 Freightliner tractor trailer hauling an empty log trailer when he met a southbound Ford Fusion car operated by 38-year-old Josh Bresett of Van Buren.  The two vehicles collided head on with the tractor trailer driving over the front of the car and the car then coming to rest under the trailer.

Van Buren Fire Department used the Jaws of Life  to remove Bresett and his wife Heather from the wreckage.  They were both transported by Van Buren ambulance to Cary Medical Center in Caribou with serious injuries.  Josh Bresett was later transferred to Eastern Maine Medical in Bangor.  Their 2-year-old son was not injured in the crash.

Gauvreau also escaped uninjured.

State police say that at the time of the accident there was zero visibility with blowing and drifting snow, which was a significant factor in the accident.  Route 1A was closed down for approximately 3 hours while the accident was investigated and the vehicles were removed.

The Freightliner, owned by D.H Giberson and Sons of Arthurette, New Brunswick sustained damage to the front of the truck.  The Ford Fusion was totaled in the crash.

State Trooper Adam Stoutamyer was assisted at the scene by Tr. Andrew Levesque and Tr. Robert Flynn.