CHELMSFORD, Mass. — After the rain was over, strong winds swept in, causing one tree in Chelmsford to topple over and trap a man and his dog underneath it.
The man and his best friend had been hiking at the Russell Mill Reservation when the incident happened. Across town, the same winds toppled over a massive pine tree at St. Joseph’s Cemetary, damaging a gateway and blocking a path inside the cemetery.
“He was out in the woods walking with his dog and it was right after the rains and the winds had picked up," said Chelmsford Fire Captain John Kivlan. “The wind had blown a tree over which had come down and partially hit him and hit his dog as well."
Captain Kivlan said using ATVs helped make the rescue a lot easier, saying that, without them, they would’ve had to hike the man and his dog for a quarter of a mile.
“The dog was injured," said Captain Kivlan. "We found the gentleman in the woods clinging to his dog.
As crews conducted the rescue, winds continued to howl, which meant they had to be on the lookout for potential hazards along the way.
“The entire time we were out there we were looking around making sure some of the other trees weren’t going to come down on us,” said Captain Klavin.
Captain Klavin said that, considering the strong winds, the man and his dog were fortunate something worse didn’t happen.
“Extremely lucky, walking in the woods in a wind storm could be detrimental as it was today," said Captain Klavin.
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