PLEASANT RIDGE PLANTATION — A man from Brighton Plantation was taken to a Bangor hospital by LifeFlight helicopter Monday morning after he was pinned against machinery in a logging accident.

The man, Freeman Cromwell, 62, was working on a wood chipping operation about 9:15 a.m. when the equipment shifted on the icy road, Sgt. Peter Michaud of the Maine State Police said. The accident happened on land owned by timber company Plum Creek off Rowe Pond Road.

Cromwell suffered injuries to his legs and had internal injuries to his midsection, Michaud said.

Michaud said Cromwell’s injuries were significant, but it was not known if they were life-threatening. A spokeswoman at Eastern Maine Medical Center, where Cromwell was taken, said she had no information on him.

Pleasant Ridge Plantation is in Somerset County, west of Bingham and the Kennebec River.

Michaud said Cromwell was the driver of a tractor-trailer chip truck being fed by an industrial wood-chipping machine. He said Cromwell walked to the back of the tractor trailer when the chipper slipped, pinning him between the chipper and the rear of the trailer.

Upper Kennebec Valley Ambulance responded to the accident, as did firefighters from Pleasant Ridge and Bingham fire departments.

No one else was injured, and no charges are expected in the accident.

Michaud said he and Trooper Reid Bond are assisting inspectors from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration with the investigation.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367
dharlow@centralmaine.com