A person was seriously injured at a logging operation near Vernonia on Wednesday morning after equipment rolled down a hillside with them inside, triggering a remote rescue that ended with a helicopter flight to a trauma hospital. The injured worker's identity and condition have not been released.
According to youroregonnews.com, Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District first responders were dispatched to the site at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. As reported by KATU, crews were called out shortly before 8:30 a.m. after a logging crew member was hurt when equipment rolled down the hill with them still inside.
Getting to the patient was itself a challenge. The incident happened in a remote area roughly 300 yards from where first responders' vehicles and equipment could reach, the fire district's account notes. That distance meant rescuers had to secure the injured person to a backboard and physically carry them to a waiting ambulance rather than drive directly to the scene.
A Difficult Carry to Reach the Ambulance
Once the injured worker was stabilized and strapped to the backboard, the logging crew and emergency responders worked together to move the patient across the uneven terrain to the ambulance. From there, the person was flown to a nearby trauma hospital for further care, though no additional information about their condition has been released.
The fire district praised the logging crew's role in the response, saying their assistance was invaluable to responding personnel and that their proactive safety plan was already in place when rescuers arrived. No details have been released about the specific type of equipment involved or why it rolled down the hill.
Push for a Permanent Landing Pad
The rescue comes as Vernonia's fire chief has been pressing local officials for infrastructure that could make such responses faster. Fire Chief Greg Brody asked the Vernonia City Council to support building a permanent Life Flight landing pad at the Vernonia airport, according to citizenportal.ai. Brody has also pushed for a fire-district levy of 78 cents per $1,000 in assessed value to boost staffing, fund a second ambulance and replace aging apparatus, the outlet reported.
Logging-related injuries have surfaced elsewhere in Oregon this year as well. In March, KATU reported that a logger was airlifted to a hospital after being struck by a falling tree on a hillside near Estacada, while KGW reported that an Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter carried out that rescue and that the logger was reported to be in stable condition. In July, KATU also reported that a person was critically injured by a falling tree in a logging incident on Portland's west side, with crews using a low-angle rope system to haul the patient through thick brush.
