Man injured while clearing fallen tree
JEFFERSON TWP. – A Connellsville Township man was severely injured Thursday evening as he was trying to clear a downed tree from Tippecanoe Road in Jefferson Township. According to Grindstone fire Chief Richard Lenk, the fire department received the call about the downed tree near Laureldale Road around 6:50 p.m.
“When we got there, there was already a guy there cutting the tree up,” Lenk said.
Lenk said trees often fall on the rural road and the man kept a chainsaw in his truck specifically to clear trees on Tippecanoe Road so he can get to work.
“Our guys were getting their coats on and getting their chainsaws out when another tree came down and knocked him to the ground on top of his chainsaw.”
Lenk said the man suffered a severe arm injury in the accident and was taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., by ambulance because the weather was too bad for medical helicopters to fly.
Lenk said the second tree apparently fell due to the weight of the rain on its leaves.
“It was a live tree and it just split at the ground, right at the base,” Lenk said.
Lenk said the two fallen trees completely blocked the road and the fire department was on the scene for about three hours clearing the route.
Lenk said the man’s family could not be reached Thursday evening, so the firefighters locked his truck in the fire station for safekeeping until family members could claim it.
Fayette County 911 said no other storm-related incidents were reported Thursday evening, other than some minor flooding on Oakland Avenue in Uniontown.