Firefighters, technical rescue crews and a heavy wrecker spent two hours stabilizing a collapsed second floor and lifting the tree

By Steven Henshaw
Reading Eagle

HEIDELBERG TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Emergency crews from numerous companies from Berks and Lebanon counties teamed up to rescue a woman from her South Mountain home after a fallen tree cut through the roof overnight and pinned her in bed.

Crews were called shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday to the home in the 600 block of Furnace Street in Heidelberg Township, about 2 miles south of Robesonia, for a report of a tree into a house with trapped occupants.

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Upon arrival, Robesonia Fire Company Chief John Christman reported the second floor was completely collapsed. A crew confirmed an occupant was pinned by a 100- to 200-foot tree and debris.

With all of that weight resting on the ground floor and the patient unable to be easily removed by medics, Christman assessed it would be a complex rescue requiring the expertise and manpower of other companies.

He dispatched the collapse unit from Boyertown Fire & Rescue to shore up the structure and Spring Township Fire Rescue Services for their technical rescue expertise.

Because of the potential crushing injuries to the patient and possible need for pre-hospitalization blood transfusion, the fire chief requested Squad 6899, which is the Tower Health critical care truck, to assist a Western Berks Ambulance crew.

The critical care truck, based at Reading Hospital, is staffed by pre-hospital critical care nurses. The team, which is available to all Berks fire, police and emergency medical services, can administer transfusions on-scene to patients with traumatic injuries.

Crews used rescue tools to make space between the tree and the patient’s upper body. They also employed a technique known as cribbing — stacking interlocking blocks to create a support system to stabilize heavy objects to prevent unpredictable movement or collapse during a rescue.

Plans were devised for freeing the patient, with one involving a request to Spitler’s Garage & Towing, Wernersville, to bring in one of its heavy wreckers. Once on scene, crews began to rig the tree for lifting.

After about two exhausting hours, the patient was removed from the second floor and taken to a Western Berks ambulance unit for transport to Reading Hospital. Information on her medical condition was not immediately available.

Christman said he can only surmise the windy conditions caused the tree to topple. Robesonia Fire Company, as with others, were extremely busy between 9 p.m. Wednesday and about the time the tree fell onto house due to steady winds of 25 to 30 mph.

Numerous trees were toppled after a brief thunderstorm with gusts exceeding 60 mph cut through Berks on Wednesday night. A top gust of 61 mph was recorded at Reading Regional Airport during the storm, according to National Weather Service data.

About 1,700 Met-Ed customers were without power Thursday morning in the aftermath.

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