LEWISTON – If Gail Farrell had been driving just a little bit faster Thursday night, she could have been in major trouble.

A massive oak tree that fell across College Street about 8:30 p.m. landed roughly 15 feet in front of Farrell’s car.

“It bounced in the road. I stopped, and I said Wow. That’s a big tree,'” the 44-year-old Auburn woman said.

For more than an hour, Farrell was unable to leave her vehicle, which was surrounded by power lines ripped down when the tree crashed into the street. A Central Maine Power Co. worker cut power to the lines about 9:45 p.m. and Farrell backed to safety.

It was unknown what caused the tree to fall. The oak, which was approximately 100 inches in circumference near the base, appeared to have broken off near the base. It was across the street from Page Hall on the Bates College campus. The tree fell on electrical lines, snapping a utility pole in half and ripping power boxes off three nearby homes.

More than a dozen buildings along College and Russell streets lost power when the lines came down. A subsequent power surge caused a transformer at East Avenue and Sabattus Street to blow. A CMP crew was sent to that area, as well.

Police and public works crews were expected to remain at the scene throughout the night. The section of College Street between Ware Street and Mountain Avenue was expected to remain blocked into this morning. City arborists were called to cut up the tree while CMP crews waited to make repairs.

Police estimated that the tree would have fallen on Farrell’s car if she had been driving 1 or 2 mph faster. The Auburn woman was on her way to visit someone when she found herself stuck on College Street.

It was an inconvenience, Farrell said, but not so much that she was unable to grasp how lucky she was to have been missed by the tree.

“I’ll be going to church on Sunday,” she said. “I’ll tell you that.”