Injured logger in fair condition

NEW SHARON – A St. Albans logger is listed in fair condition at a Lewiston hospital this morning after he was pinned between his skidder and a load of logs Tuesday afternoon.

Wayne Knight, 65, hired to clear a parcel of land off Jersey Avenue, was trying to unload a bundle of logs from the skidder’s hooks. The skidder, parked and idling, suddenly lurched forward, pinning him against the skidder’s back fender and the load of logs.

New Sharon Fire Chief Jeff Brackett and his crew arrived at about 5:15 p.m. after getting a call from Jeff Harris. Harris, a farmer who also sells properties with Harris Real Estate of Farmington, was showing a parcel of land on Jersey Avenue when he heard Knight’s cries for help.

“I heard a wicked yelp,” Harris said. “I knew there was logging going on up there.” He listened carefully again and heard the skidder idling and headed towards it about a half mile down the logging road. Arriving at the skidder, Harris, not seeing anyone at first, ran around it to find Knight slumped over the logs.

“I asked him if he’s alright and he said, ‘not really,'” Harris said. Knight told Harris to move the steering wheel and, in doing so, it released Knight from the hold and he slumped down.

“He was hurting real bad,” Harris said. “He said he’d been pinned there for three hours.” He called 911 for help. Once Knight was stabilized by NorthStar EMS paramedics, he was transported to a landing zone near Allen’s Auction House on Industry Road, and was then loaded aboard a LifeFlight medical helicopter and was flown to Central Maine Medical Center. Today Knight was listed in fair condition, according to a spokeswoman.

Harris is relieved Knight’s condition is improving.

“I’m awful happy he’s alive,” Harris said. He added that his father, Adrian Harris, had always taught him to be attentive to noise in the woods, especially where equipment is in use and is often operated by someone working alone.

The advice to listen carefully in the woods has been critically important another time, when a few years back, it was Harris again who heard Jim Curtis’ cries for help after he was pinned beneath his tractor.