By Kimberly Wear
Eureka Times Standard (California)
Copyright 2006 Times - Standard
All Rights Reserved
EUREKA, Calif. — A woman trapped under logs at the Balloon Tract escaped with what appeared to be minor injuries Thursday after firefighters used inflatable bags to extract her from the debris pile where she had been camping.
She was treated at the scene and taken to St. Joseph Hospital for examination.
The pile shifted as employees hired to remove the log debris were loading a dump truck. After hearing shouts, the workers from Figas Construction called 911. The rescue took nearly 30 minutes from the time of the call to her release, according to a fire department spokesman.
The woman and a man, who were not identified, apparently were camping under the pile on the southwest side of the Balloon Tract. She was trapped under a 30-inch diameter fir tree with multiple logs resting on top. Schmidbauer Lumber Co. is using the area to store logs.
The woman was given oxygen and was conscious during the removal.
Eureka’s Assistant Fire Chief Jim Yarnall described the rescue as having a “very positive outcome” in a dangerous situation.
“It could have been a fatality very, very easily,” he said.
Three Eureka Fire Department engines, one ladder truck and 12 firefighters responded to the scene at Washington Street and Waterfront Drive just after 8:30 a.m. Employees of Schmidbauer Lumber Co. and Figas Construction assisted the department with equipment.