Camden loader, employee go over river embankment at Knox Mill
Camden Public Works employee Tracy Harford, in burgundy, kneels along the Megunticook River mill pond where the front-end loader he was driving in the parking lot above crashed through the wood sidewalk and a fence and went down the embankment. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)
Tracy Harford is checked out by Camden First Aid after he went down an embankment and was ejected from the front-end loader he was driving. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Moments after the 911 call, a front-end loader can be seen down an embankment at the mill pond above Knox Mill in downtown Camden. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Camden Public Works employees join Camden First Aid and Camden Fire Department first responders at the site where the front-end loader went over the embankment Friday afternoon. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Co-workers and CFAA EMTs assist Tracy Harford as they begin to make their way up the embankment in Camden Friday afternoon. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Steve Laite, right, walks up through the snow with an injured Tracy Harford and others. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)
The walk up from where Tracy Harford and the front-end loader ended up Friday in Camden. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)
(Photo by Lynda Clancy)
Tracy Harford, in burgundy, reaches Knowlton Street from the edge of the Megunticook River mill pond Friday afternoon. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Tracy Harford is taken to a Camden First Aid Association ambulance after going over an embankment at the Knox Mill parking lot. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Lynda Clancy)
(Photo by Lynda Clancy)
Camden Public Works employee Tracy Harford, in burgundy, kneels along the Megunticook River mill pond where the front-end loader he was driving in the parking lot above crashed through the wood sidewalk and a fence and went down the embankment. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)
Tracy Harford is checked out by Camden First Aid after he went down an embankment and was ejected from the front-end loader he was driving. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Moments after the 911 call, a front-end loader can be seen down an embankment at the mill pond above Knox Mill in downtown Camden. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Camden Public Works employees join Camden First Aid and Camden Fire Department first responders at the site where the front-end loader went over the embankment Friday afternoon. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Co-workers and CFAA EMTs assist Tracy Harford as they begin to make their way up the embankment in Camden Friday afternoon. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Steve Laite, right, walks up through the snow with an injured Tracy Harford and others. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)
The walk up from where Tracy Harford and the front-end loader ended up Friday in Camden. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)
(Photo by Lynda Clancy)
Tracy Harford, in burgundy, reaches Knowlton Street from the edge of the Megunticook River mill pond Friday afternoon. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Tracy Harford is taken to a Camden First Aid Association ambulance after going over an embankment at the Knox Mill parking lot. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Lynda Clancy)
(Photo by Lynda Clancy)
CAMDEN — Snow clearing work at the back of the Knox Mill parking lot, near Knowlton Street, came to an abrupt halt for a Camden Public Works employee driving a front-end loader when he got too close to a embankment on a side along the river and broke through the walkway and the fence.
Tracy Harford was clearing snow with a New Holland W170B loader when he got too close to the edge of the lot, which is bordered by a wood sidewalk that was snowcovered.
According to first responders, as Hartford realized the big machine was going down the embankment, his door kept opening. The edge of the Megunticook River mill pond, just above the Knox Mill and the waterfalls, was about 25-35 feet from the edge of the parking lot.
As he went over, Harford reported he was thrown from the cab of the loader into the water, right at the edge, which was shallow. The accident occurred around 2 p.m. Friday.
First responders on the scene found Harford standing outside the machine, stunned and a little dazed, with abrasions and cuts on his hands and above his eye. Due to his location, about 12-feet down the embankment, and his bruised but stable condition, Camden First Aid and public works co-workers helped Harford walk up 3-foot deep snow, up a slippery embankment and onto Knolwton Street.
Harford was transported to Pen Bay Medical Center with what appeared to be minor injuries.
He returned to the scene around 4:15 to inspect the rig, no worse for wear.
"I'm OK," said Harford. When asked if the accident seemed to unfold in slow motion, Hartford said, "No, it went BANG -- BANG -- BANG."
The town is waiting for a crane from Thomaston to come and help haul the loader up and over the edge of the embankment. The crane was called to lift it up and over because the loader has a flat tire and fiber cables are located on the ground at the side where it went over.
Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards can be reached by email at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com or by calling 207-706-6655.
Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached by email at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com or by calling 207-706-6657.
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