READFIELD — A man cutting wood on Chase Road found himself trapped when his foot became pinned between two trees and a pile of logs landed on top of him.

Reafield firefighters were able to free him, according to Fire Chief Lee Mank, who said the man suffered injuries to his foot and ankle. He was transported by Winthrop Ambulance Service to MaineGeneral Health.

“I don’t know how extensive his injuries were,” Mank said.

Firefighters were called out about 1:05 p.m., Mank said, and found the man pinned in place.

“We used stabilizers to stabilize the rest of the wood pile,” the chief said, “and used air bags to lift the logs pinning his foot.

“Stabilizers and airbags we use for vehicle extrications, primarily,” Mank added. “They are very handy for other things; with structures, if they collapse, you can stabilize walls.”

He said that was the first time he’d had to help someone in that kind of situation.

“That’s the really the first incident like that I’ve had in 20 years of doing this,” Mank said. “We have had trees come down on people when they were doing wood, but never had to extricate someone pinned in a wood pile before.”

With his focus on the extrication effort, he noted he didn’t realize the rain had gotten more steady until after the man had been freed.

“I didn’t even know it was raining that hard because it was misting when we got there,” Mank said. “But when we got done, I have a box that holds the stabilizers, and there was about a half an inch of water in there.”

Maine State Police also responded to the scene, which was cleared at about 2:30 p.m.

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