STATE TROOPER SUV TOTALLED from a collision at the intersection of Routes 11 and 121 on Monday. The Town of Casco would like to work with the Maine Department of Transportation to address safety issues at that corner, where there have been 30 injuries in the past decade. (Photo courtesy of Maine State Troopers)

By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

CASCO — A Maine State Trooper responding to a dispatch call was injured in a vehicular accident that involved three vehicles and caused one man to be taken to the hospital via a LifeFlight helicopter. The collision took place at the Route 121 junction on Route 11 on Monday afternoon.

According to Department of Public Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland, around 3 p.m., Cpl. Joseph Bureau was responding to a burglary that had been reported in Brownfield. Bureau’s Maine State Police SUV had its sirens and flashing lights turned on as he went through the intersection at the same time a pickup truck was pulling out.

Bureau was unable to stop and the SUV T-boned the truck; and then it hit a utility pole as well as a stopped tractor-trailer, according to McCausland.

The driver of the truck, Steven Nickerson, 48, was Lifeflighted to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. According to reports, his injuries were not classified as life-threatening.

Bureau was also taken to the hospital, where he was released with bruises and minor cuts.

A semi-truck driver, who was able to come to a complete stop, was not injured.

The State Police SUV was totaled. The utility pole that had been hit disabled the blinking light.

Route 11 was closed to traffic from Route 121 to Quaker Ridge Road for about six hours. The collision is still being investigated.

On Tuesday night, the Casco Board of Selectmen reacted to the collision that had happened the day before.

Mary Fernandes said the town should push for the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) to do a report on that intersection and how to make it safer.

She said there had been 30 injuries at that spot in the past 10 years. The most recent collision certainly warrants some action, she said.

In addition to the injuries sustained by people in the vehicles, the blinking traffic light at the intersection was left inoperable.

The Maine Department of Transportation had been notified and someone was being sent to repair or replace the blinking light.

The blinking light gives the right-of-way to traffic travelling down Route 11, while drivers on Route 121 are required to stop before pulling out into the intersection.