Tractor Trailers Crash, Catch Fire on Maine Turnpike

🔴 A last-minute lane change caused an SUV to crash into a flatbed tractor trailer

🔴 The flatbed went into the median and was struck by a second truck

🔴 Both trucks caught fire and are a total loss

A crash involving two tractor trailers that caught fire closed a section of the Maine Turnpike for four hours late Thursday night.

Maine State Police spokeswoman Shannon Moss said a black Ford Explorer driven by Fidele Kaderi, 50, of Biddeford made a last-minute decision to get off the southbound lanes at Exit 36 (I-195) around 10:30 p.m., cutting off a flatbed tractor trailer.

Kaderi struck the truck, which went into the median. A second tractor trailer was unable to avoid hitting the flatbed, causing both to catch fire, according to Moss. Both trucks are considered total losses.

The trucks were a total loss, but the drivers were not injured. Kaderi was sent to a hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. No charges have been filed pending further investigation.

The southbound lanes were closed until approximately 3 a.m. Friday morning.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH