FREEMAN TOWNSHIP — A local man was injured Tuesday while cutting wood with his father after a skidder rolled over him.

Father and son were working about a half-mile in the woods off West Freeman Township road when they had stopped the skidder and put on the emergency brake, Strong Deputy Fire Chief Ian Shamp said.

They cut down a tree and the tree got hung up on another tree, he said.

They went to hook the cable to the tree and the next thing they heard were the tire chains on the skidder rattling, Shamp said.

By the time they realized the skidder was rolling, it was right there, he said.

The father did not have any apparent injuries, he said.

However the son, in his 30s, appeared to have a broken lower leg, Shamp said. He declined to give the name of the Freeman Township residents involved in the incident, which occurred at about 10:45 a.m.

Firefighters from Strong and Phillips, a few members from the Sandy River Riders ATV Club, and NorthStar Emergency Medical Services personnel responded to the scene. Club members brought in four-wheelers to help with the rescue.

The NorthStar crew secured the man’s leg and put him in a Stokes basket, Shamp said.

Rescuers placed the victim on the back of an ATV but the trail got rough and rescuers had to carry him out.

The son was taken by ambulance to a Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington.

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