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Contact: Edie Smith, Spokesperson
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
284 State Street
41 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333


Telephone: work (207) 592-4348

Fax: (207) 287-6395

February 6, 2010

Poland Man Seriously Hurt When Hit by Snowmobile

Augusta, Maine - A 22-year-old Poland man was seriously injured this morning (Feb. 6, 2010) in a chain-reaction incident that resulted in him being hit by a snowmobile.

At approximately 10:15 a.m., Chris Arsenault, 22, of Poland, was the second snowmobiler in a party of four snowmobilers who were riding on a half-mile straight away on a groomed club trail in Glenwood Plantation in southern Aroostook County. The incident occurred when the sledders came upon a sharp left-hand turn that most of them had difficulties negotiating due to unreasonable speeds. (The scene is three miles off of Babcock Road.)

The first snowmobiler was able to make the turn. Mr. Arsenault, operating a 2007 Arctic Cat F6, told Game Wardens he could see that he was not going to make the corner so he jumped off his sled, according to Warden Durwood Humphrey. The snowmobile continued to travel approximately 30 yards, flipped end over end and landed in the woods.

As Mr. Arsenault was getting up from the trail, a 14-year-old male from Windham who was driving a 2009 Ski Doo MXZ snowmobile struck Mr. Aresenault in the back. The juvenile’s sled flipped end over end and crashed into Mr. Aresenault’s snowmobile in the woods. The fourth snowmobile operator was able to avoid the collision.

Mr. Arsenault received multiple injuries to his left arm, leg, collarbone and back. He was transported directly from the scene by LifeFlight to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

The 14-year-old juvenile received minor head injuries and was transported to Houlton Regional Hospital, where he was treated and released.

“This was a case of two out of the four the operators overdriving their machines, as they could not stop or even negotiate a corner,” according to MWS Lt. Tom Ward. “With the lack of snow in central and southern Maine, I have seen an increase in numbers of sleds and operators in the Aroostook County region. The trails are in great shape, but folks still need to operate their machines in a safe, prudent manner. Traditionally, we see many problems in these corner areas and it’s due to speed and not operating in control at all times. These folks were very lucky that someone wasn’t killed.”

Damage to both snowmobiles is $3,000 to $4,000. Speed was a factor in the crash, and the incident is under investigation.

Wardens Humphrey, Charles Brown and Mike Boyer responded to the scene, and Warden Humphrey is the primary investigator. They were assisted by Danforth Fire and Rescue.