Firefighter run over by vehicle during brush fire
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BALLS MILLS -- A firefighter was air lifted from the scene of a field fire after she was hit by a truck that also was there to fight the blaze.
Firefighters from Montoursville and Hepburn, Eldred, Old Lycoming and Loyalsock townships were dispatched to the field just off of Spook Hollow Road about 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Heavy smoke could be seen miles away from the road below.
Zach Hall, Cody DiMarco and Daryl Nash all were at the scene and could hear the fire sizzling as heavy smoke filled the air. Each said they thought it looked like a controlled burn at first, but were more alarmed when it started to spread. "Once the wind took off it started to spread pretty quickly," Nash said.
Both Hall and DiMarco saw the female firefighter, said to be in her 50s, in the middle of the burning field.
"She was trying to rake out the fire and the truck hit her," DiMarco said. "It ran right over her legs."
The two then went out and carried her from the field.
Initial emergency dispatches said the woman, who's name was not released, was at first unresponsive, but that she was talking sometime shortly after.
The emergency medical helicopter landed in a length of the field that was unaffected by the fire and took her to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville.
Although it only took firefighters about 30 minutes to contain the flames one man was being treated for smoke inhalation just on the edge of the singed field.
Police and the fire companies on scene weren't sure what caused the fire, but Trout Run Fire Chief Robert Whitford said there have been a rise in brush fires the past few days. "There's one up in Muncy Township right now," he said Sunday. According to the 911 center, there was a field fire at 700 Auchmuty Road, in Muncy Township, at the same time.
Dry conditions, direct sunlight and people out burning make March, April and May known for fires, according to the state Department of Forestry. There were several reported Friday and Saturday.
The incident will be investigated and more details about the woman's identity and condition will be released when it become available.