BELGRADE — A loud explosion woke Amy Faucher, who gathered up her 5-year-old daughter and ran downstairs calling to her 11-year-old as an unfamiliar loud whirring sound filled the house.

“I thought maybe we were having a bad storm or maybe a lightning strike,” she said.

Then she looked into the first floor bedroom of her Knowles Road home, where she had been sleeping until about half an hour earlier when she got up to tend to her daughter.

There was a silver Oldsmobile in her bedroom, the bumper resting on the bed where her husband Jeff had been sleeping, the tires still spinning.

“I asked my husband if he was all right,” she said on Friday. “I didn’t realize what a close call it was at the time.”

No one was injured, according to initial reports, but Faucher said her husband’s leg and foot began to swell afterward, and he sought medical care on Friday.

Advertisement

Dust from plaster and an airbag filled the room, splinters and chunks from broken timbers rained from the wall. An air conditioner had fallen onto the child’s bed that was next to theirs, and a cross was resting face up on that bed.

The Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office was called to investigate.

Chief Deputy Ryan Reardon said Friday that the car, driven by Adam Sirois, 32,  of Farmingdale, was traveling along Knowles Road about 45 miles per hour.

“The next thing he knew, he lost control, no steering and no brakes, and he careened into the side of the house,” Reardon said. The front half of the car ended up inside the house.

It could have been a tired driver or mechanical failure, Reardon said. Police did not issue any citations and Reardon said there was no indiciation alcohol was involved.

Faucher grew up in the 322 Knowles Road home, and she worried that the damage to the 1880s house would weaken the structure, causing the second floor to drop.

Advertisement

However, after spending the remainder of the night at a relative’s home, the Fauchers were back home and having a meal by 1 p.m. Friday as  they awaited visits by insurance adjusters.

Despite the injury to her husband, Faucher said she was grateful the rest of the family and their pets were spared.

“I just feel that all the angels were watching over us,”  Faucher said.

Belgrade firefighters assisted at the scene, said Belgrade Fire Chief Dan MacKenzie.

Betty Adams — 621-5631
badams@centralmaine.com


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.