ARUNDEL — A crash on a heavily traveled road in Arundel on Saturday morning knocked out power for dozens of area residents and resulted in the road being shut down for more than six hours.

According to York County Sheriff William L. King, Jr.  a single-vehicle crash near 1429 Portland Road (U.S. Route 1) in Arundel knocked out power in the vicinity Saturday morning.

The sheriff said that deputies were called to the accident scene at about 8:10 a.m. where a rollover crash had taken place. The vehicle had struck and broke a utility pole, causing live wires to be strewn across the car and roadway. 

“It was also reported that the car was filling up with smoke,” King said.

Upon arrival, deputies found that the victim, James Spear, 57, of Old Orchard Beach, had been dragged away from the car by three other motorists. 

Spear was transported to Southern Maine Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. The road wasn’t reopened until 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

King said an investigation shows that Spear was driving south on the Portland Road when he fell asleep at the wheel. The vehicle left the roadway, rolled and struck a utility pole. 

“On a related note — after the vehicle overturned and the air bags deployed, the cabin of the vehicle filled with smoke (it was later determined to be emissions from the air bag,” King said. “Not knowing the smoke was not harmful, three individuals (a man and his two sons) went to the vehicle (avoiding the live wires), broke the vehicle’s window and dragged the victim to safety.”

He said there actually was no fire, but witnesses at the scene believed the vehicle had caught fire due to the smoke filling the cabin.

Central Maine Power worked to restore power to a total of 68 residences and businesses in Arundel that were left without power following the accident.