PITTSFIELD — Police said the 35-year-old Burnham woman who died late Saturday night on Johnson Flat Road was ejected from her crashed Chevy Tahoe before it erupted in flames.

Pittsfield Police Officer Michael Cote said Amanda Patterson’s body was about seven feet from the burned Tahoe when he arrived shortly after 11 p.m.

Cote said Patterson was traveling west on Johnson Flat Road when her vehicle left the road and struck a tree.

“There was no indication she braked prior to leaving the road,” said Cote, the primary investigating officer.

He said Tuesday, three days into his investigation, that it appeared Patterson was not wearing a seat belt.

A passerby reported the crash at 10:59 p.m.

“She told me that she first thought the forest was on fire,” Cote said.

Clinton fire personnel arrived first at the crash site. Cote said they found the Tahoe engulfed in flames.

A Maine State Police trooper forensically mapped the scene and Cote said Maine State Police personnel will examine the automobile for defects that might have contributed to the accident.

The Medical Examiner’s Office will test for the presence of drug and alcohol, as it does with all fatal motor vehicle accidents.

Patterson’s aunt, Jane Reny, said that Patterson had taken friends to watch the Central Maine Egg Festival fireworks in Pittsfield on Saturday night.

Patterson, said Reny, had driven her friends home and was alone in her 1996 Chevy Tahoe when the accident happened.

According to her obituary, Patterson graduated in 1993 from Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield.

She had three children, Zackery Raye, Molly Raye and Sarah Chase. She was engaged to Harold Ketcham. Her family also includes her mother, Jane Brann, and a brother, Jasper Beam.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday, at Shorey-Nichols Funeral Home, 191 Hartland Ave.

Beth Staples — 861-9252

bstaples@centralmaine.com

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