An accident with a wood chipper has seriously injured a tree trimming worker at a job in northern Brooklyn Park.
It happened when the 46 year old worker from a private Oak Grove company was putting brush into a wood chipper. Workers say the man suffered injuries to both arms, his chest and head when he somehow got tangled up with a rope.
He was rushed to the hospital by helicopter. Fellow workers hope his arms can be saved.
Arnold Clemensen says he's done that kind of work for ten years, and has never seen an accident like this with a wood chipper.
"I was just coming out of the tree behind these shrubs over here and I heard an explosion," Clemensen says. "I came running to the chipper, one of our guys was laying underneath the chipper. Apparently he threw some brush in the chipper that was attached to a rope. The rope must have grabbed a hold of him and slmost ripped his arms right off."
The victim is reported in critical condition.
Mike Johnson, reporting
news_mjohnson@twelve.tv
July 25, 2012