RUMFORD – A 46-year-old man was electrocuted and his son seriously injured Saturday morning when a tree they were cutting fell on power lines along Route 108.

The two were cutting down trees with the intention of having them fall parallel to the road, police said, but one apparently toppled toward the road and fell atop the power lines.

Rumford Detective Sgt. Daniel Garbarini said the identity of the man and his 23-year-old son would not be released Saturday so that family members could be notified.

Garbarini said the trees were being cut on private property, but he declined to say who owned the land. He said police received the emergency call to the Smith Crossing property at about 9:55 Saturday morning.

“The father was actually working a backhoe – they were working in accord,” he said. “The son had cut the tree, the tree tipped toward the power line, and at some point the son got some charge. He was actually touching the tree.”

The father got off the tractor and went over to help his son, Garbarini said, and was then electrocuted.

“The father is now deceased, and the son has been Lifeflighted to a Massachusetts hospital for burn injuries,” he said.

By the time police and firefighters arrived, the tree had fallen off the lines, none of which had toppled, Rumford Fire Deputy Richard Coulomb said.

This type of accident is rare, he added. “Usually we get trees blown down on lines, but for someone to be cutting down a tree and catch it – it doesn’t happen … often.”

Coulomb said he hasn’t seen anything like Saturday’s accident in his 18 years with the department. “It’s upsetting,” he said. “It’s upsetting, but you have to concentrate on the patient.”