Tree Truck Hits Tree Entrapping Driver

Union Township - January 24, 2023

This afternoon at 2:08 pm, South Branch Emergency Services was alerted along with numerous other agencies to a serious accident with injury, entrapment and fire on Van Syckels Rd, Union Township.  One of our BLS units was staged per policy at Van Syckels and Rt 31 when the call came in and was on scene within a minute.  

Initial reports were of a tree trunk carrying logs on its side, with the cab pinning the driver between the truck and the tree.  SBES’ Heavy Rescue arrived on scene with Chief Setnicky as IC and Assistant Chief Buchanan as Operations.   Contact was made to the patient who was heavily entrapped using ladders to the top side of the vehicle.   Due to the nature of the incident, additional resources were called to the scene, including Superior Towing with a heavy duty rotator wrecker to assist, and the Hunterdon County Technical Rescue Task Force.  

A primary plan, along with a second and third plan were worked to free the driver as additional resources arrived.   Operations was transferred to County OEM Coordinator Fahey, who coordinated the 3 teams composed of the many responders on scene, all working the three plans until the driver was finally disentangled from the wreckage in just over 90 minutes from the time of the call.  

The patient was turned over to Pattenburg Rescue Squad and Hunterdon Medical Center’s MICU and transported with the flight crew from NorthStar Medevac to a landing zone where the patient was then flown to a trauma center in Pennsylvania for treatment. 

This was the second commercial truck accident in the last 2 weeks where many of the same volunteers and staff came together to help remove a patient from an accident involving a prolonged and technically challenging process.   Due to the training available to our departments, and the regional teamwork shared between those assigned, the team had a successful outcome. 

SBES would like to thank all those involved for the great team work, establishing and working the plans to coordinate and successfully disengage this patient and get him to definitive care.  

We wish the patient a speedy recovery. 

High Bridge Fire Company
Hampton Fire Department
Pattenburg Rescue Squad
Pattenburg Fire Department
Hunterdon Medical Center MICU
NorthStar Medevac
New Jersey State Police - Perryville Barracks 
Superior Towing
Glen Gardner Fire Company
Bloomsbury Hose Company
Hunterdon County Hazmat
Hunterdon County OEM
Hunterdon County Communications Center
Hunterdon County Technical Rescue Task Force, comprised of
Flemington-Raritan First Aid & Rescue Squad
Whitehouse First Aid Squad
Lambertville Fire Department District #1

​

---