Hog Trough Fire Hit by Tree 2022

A hand crew member sustained a leg injury while performing hazard tree mitigation in front of the crew while assigned to the Hog Trough Fire, Bitterroot National Forest, Montana. A snag was felled and hung up in another tree; in the process of removing the hung-up tree, a piece of the trunk unexpectedly came loose and struck the sawyer in the lower leg. The crew member received initial treatment via crew EMT and was transported via agency helicopter to a rendezvous with Life Flight to finish transport to the hospital. Initially suspected to be a broken leg, the injury was determined to be severe muscle bruising with some crushing of the muscle tissue. The crew member was released from the hospital with a little-to-no weight bearing restriction for the next 3-6 weeks. 

[This data was provided by the USFS Weekly Summary Report.]

Hit by Tree, Hand Crews, Medevac, Falling Operation