A Tex Tech Industries worker has been treated and released from a hospital after being extracted from machinery Thursday at the company’s North Main Street location in Monmouth.

“The worker is doing pretty good,” said Kellie Chick, the human resources manager for Tex Tech Industries. “He is expected back to work pretty soon.”

The worker, who Chick declined to name because the accident is under investigation by the company, suffered a chipped elbow and a possible hairline fracture to his forearm.

“It is part of our normal process to do an internal investigation on any type of injury,” Chick said. 

The worker was cleaning a picker machine, she said, which is used to break down raw fiber materials, both natural and man-made, to prepare for production. Tex Tech Industries manufactures materials like Nomex, kevlar, teflon and wool for use in aerospace, ballistics, automotive and protective apparel.

Monmouth Fire Department worked for 25 minutes to free the man from the machinery. 

“We had to cut a shaft in two places to get his arm out,” Monmouth Fire Department Assistant Chief Ed Pollard told the Kennebec Journal Thursday. 

While LifeFlight had been called, Pollard said, a ground crew responded and followed Winthrop Ambulance Service to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. Monmouth Police also responded to the call.

Tex Tech Industries has been in business since 1904, and around 200 people are employed at the company’s Monmouth plant, 140 of whom work in production.