UNION – Union emergency medical responders, as well as firefighters from Union and Appleton, hiked into a wooded area adjacent to Heald Highway, Tuesday afternoon, March 20, following a third-party report of an injured male.

Just before 1:15 p.m., a woman in Rockland called Knox County Communications Center, in Rockland, to report that a man who’d been operating a skidder was injured somewhere in the vicinity of Lanphere Field, across from Dollar General Store, in Union.

Upon scene, Union firefighters joined employees of Lanphere and Son Stonework for the search, based on the word of the Rockland caller that a man was out there, and that a tree may have fallen on him.

After a few minutes of searching, Union Fire Chief Kevin Soule requested Appleton Fire Department’s all-terrain vehicle with its patient sled.

The man was found approximately 100 feet into the woods, according to Ryan Lanphere. The man had apparently been out cutting firewood alone when a birch tree fell on his back, he said.

The severity of his injuries are unknown at this time.

LifeFlight of Maine had been called, with the intent to touch down at the Masonic Lodge; however, Union emergency personnel cancelled the medical emergency response helicopter and its 21-minute estimated arrival in favor of an emergency-status ambulance ride to Penobscot Bay Medical Center, Rockport.

“He is the hardest working guy in Knox County,” Lanphere said, about the injured man. “He never, ever takes a day off.”

Sarah Thompson can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com