By Lisa Williams Ackley

Staff Writer

NORTH BRIDGTON — A 14-year-old boy from Massachusetts suffered a concussion late Sunday morning, after the snowmobile he was operating struck a tree off Monk Road here.

Sergeant Dave Chabot of the Maine Warden Service said Tuesday that the boy was the second in line of three snowmobiles that were traveling along a snowmobile trail around 11 a.m. on Feb. 5 when his snow machine “drove off the side of the trail” and hit a tree. The youth was wearing a helmet at the time, Sgt. Chabot said.

Bridgton Fire Department personnel brought a rescue sled to the accident scene, that was approximately two miles in the woods, and transported the boy out to an awaiting ambulance on Monk Road which took him to Bridgton Hospital. He was released from the hospital, later that day, the warden said.

The accident was first reported to have occurred off Ben Hale Road in Waterford that becomes Monk Road in Bridgton.

Sgt. Chabot cited “operator inexperience and poor trail conditions” as factors in the accident, and said the youth was not speeding on the sled.

“The 14-year-old operator was up here from Massachusetts visiting an uncle at a camp where they come quite often,” said Sgt. Chabot.

The snowmobile the boy was operating sustained front-end damage and is considered “a total loss,” according to Sgt. Chabot.