Man in burning car rescued by passerby

If not for the quick response by a passerby, a single-vehicle accident on Tuesday afternoon, February 21, would have been fatal to a 61-year-old Meddybemps man trapped inside his burning car.

Washington County Sheriff's Deputy Jeffrey Bishop, the investigating officer, says that David McLean of Eastport undoubtedly saved the life of Gerald Boutin, who had lost control of his 1989 Chevrolet Caprice as he was driving at 3:50 p.m. in "very, very icy conditions" on Route 191 in Meddybemps. The car slid off the road and slammed into an embankment.
"Mr. Boutin was trapped in his car," says Bishop. "His health is not very good, and he was actually on his way to the doctor. Between his current medications and the accident, he was very confused. When Mr. McLean came along, he said Mr. Boutin was screaming and couldn't get out of the car, and he saw that the vehicle was on fire."

"If he hadn't come along when he did, there's no way that gentleman would be alive," says Bishop of McLean. "Within 45 seconds to a minute, it would have been too late."
McLean says he was on his way to Machias when he spotted the car totally involved in flames. "The road was so slippery there was a tractor-trailer in front of me that couldn't stop. We were talking [on the C.B.] and I told him to keep going and call 911. You couldn't get a cell phone signal there.

When he ran up to the burning car, he discovered the driver conscious and bleeding, but McLean couldn't get the door open. Flames were inside the car, "the motor was totally engulfed" and he had to get the victim's seatbelt off via the passenger side door, before returning to the driver's side and ripping the door off. "It seemed like hours," recalls McLean of the rescue.

"There's absolutely nothing left of the car," points out the trooper. "There isn't a distinguishable characteristic left."

Boutin was transferred by Downeast EMS ambulance to Calais Regional Hospital, and Bishop reports that, as of the next morning, the injured man was in stable condition.
McLean says he is thankful for the help of others, especially "a wonderful lady" who stopped traffic for him, Paul Smith, an EMS provider from Dennysville, and a man from Gardner's Lake who let McLean lay the injured man on his truck and provided a blanket and old shirt to staunch all of the blood pouring from his head wounds.

"I also thank the Maine Army National Guard for all my training, so that I did the best that I could," adds McLean. "And I have to thank God that I happened to be in the right place at the right time."

Assisting with the traffic at the accident scene, about one-and-a-half miles from the intersection of Route 191 and 214, were members of the Meddybemps Volunteer Fire Department.