La Grande Hotshot firefighters escaped injury when a large tree fell onto their vehicle as they were headed to a fire line.
The 19-inch wide Ponderosa Pine -- that officials learned was rotten in the middle -- hit the windshield as the vehicle was turning off Silver Lake Highway, KATU reported.
“The employees are good, just a little shaken up,” said Cory Thompson, Safety Officer for the South Central Oregon Fire Management Partnership Type 3 Incident Management Team.
“It was a green tree and it was rotten in the middle. If you looked at [it], you probably could not identify it as a hazard tree.”
Officials was 113-feet tall, with the top 18-feet hitting the vehicle. Glass shards were found throughout the cab of the truck.
The firefighters are part of a group fighting the Little Yamsay Fire, burning in the Fremont-Winema National Forest.
