S.C.Firefighters Work Hours to Free Man From Machine

March 06--EFFINGHAM, S.C. -- Firefighters spent two hours Tuesday morning working to free a man's leg after it became entrapped in a machine at Charles Ingram Lumber Company.

Howe Springs firefighters along with a Florence County EMS crew were dispatched about 8:53 a.m. to a report of a worker caught in a machine at the band saw mill building, Shannon Smith, Howe Springs Fire chief, said.

The victim was trapped in the machine -- which Smith likened to an old-style credit card machine in the way it moved -- from his knee down.

EMS crews arrived ahead of firefighters and called for an air ambulance, which landed at an adjacent baseball field, Smith said.

In addition to the air ambulance, a Florence regional medical center sent a trauma surgeon to assist with the extrication.

Despite firefighters' and employees' best efforts to free him from the machine, after two hours of effort the surgeon made the call to run the machine back over his leg to free the victim, Smith said.

The victim and surgeon were flown from the scene to the Florence regional medical center for continuing treatment of his injuries, Smith said.

An official with the company said their investigation was just starting and he couldn't comment further.

Smith said he didn't have any further information about the man's condition.

Copyright 2012 - Florence Morning News, S.C.