HEBRON — Maine got a white Christmas on Tuesday, but it meant trouble for some motorists, especially those trying to navigate a slippery hill in Hebron.

Brighton Hill on Route 124 was so slippery that a police cruiser was stuck on the hill for hours, as were up to eight vehicles and a town snowplow, said Oxford County Deputy William Nelson.

The trouble started around 10:30 a.m. when Nelson responded to a single vehicle off the road. As he arrived to help the disabled vehicle, things got worse. The plow truck, which was headed down the hill, started sliding out of control, even with its blades down.

Cars heading up the hill were slipping and sliding. “The road was very slippery,” Nelson said. “You couldn’t even walk on it.”

The plow truck went into the ditch to avoid the cars, Nelson said. “The original car is off the road. Now all the other cars can’t get up the hill. Some pulled over. Some went into ditches.”

Several cars trying to go down the hill also ended up in the ditch or stuck on the hill. “I got stuck in the mess,” Nelson said. “We sat there for hours, waiting for a sand truck.”

Route 124 was closed from Brighton Hill to Minot to prevent more vehicles from getting stuck.

Among those who slid off the road was John Wood of Turner. Wood was attempting to drive down the hill when his Honda started sliding. “It was just bare ice,” he said. “I was headed for the ditch. It was very scary.”

A ridge in the ditch kept Wood’s car from sliding off the road into a tree, he said.

But it was Christmas. Despite the circumstance, goodwill and cheer prevailed. Neighbors offered coffee and hot dogs to people stuck on the hill, Nelson said. “It was like a big block party. It’s Christmas. Why not make the best of it?”

A little before 1 p.m., sand trucks made it to the hill. Wreckers pushed and pulled disabled vehicles back onto the road.

No one was hurt, Nelson said. “There wasn’t even much, if any, reportable damage.”

There were plenty of other accidents elsewhere in Maine.

Shortly after 1 p.m., a vehicle crashed between Maine Turnpike Exit 80 in Lewiston and Exit 75 in Auburn. The car went into a guardrail at Mile 77, Deputy Chief Jason Moen of the Auburn Police Department said. The crash temporarily blocked the passing lane, and the speed limit was reduced to 45 mph.

And part of Interstate 95 in the Freeport-Brunswick area was closed around 11 a.m., when a chain of accidents overwhelmed police, according to the Bangor Daily News.

Maine State Police Sgt. Robert Burke said part of I-95 in Brunswick was shut down for 37 minutes around 11 a.m. “Just the sheer number (of car accidents) is what overwhelmed us,” Burke told the Bangor Daily News. “We ran low on manpower.” Extra troopers and help from local police departments were called in. “It was good that they could come in on Christmas,” Burke said.

Adding to the problem, a Maine Department of Transportation plow truck rear-ended another vehicle, Burke told the Bangor Daily News.

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