Early Thursday morning, a University of Montana forestry student was injured in a chainsaw accident while building a structure for the upcoming Forester's Ball.

Vice President for Integrated Communications Peggy Kuhr said the accident occurred in the West Auxiliary Gym.

"As you know, the students actually build an 1800's-era logging town every year and it's an enormous project," Kuhr said. "A group of students was working at about eight o'clock this morning when a student was using a chainsaw and it kicked back on him, and struck another student in the lower leg."

Kuhr said other students working on the project had emergency medical training, and rushed to help the injured student.

"Two of the other students who were there at the time were EMT's, so they were able to help him right away," Kuhr said. "The ambulance was there within minutes, and although I don't have a current update on his condition, I know he's at a local hospital."

Kuhr said the forestry students are no strangers to chainsaws.

"Obviously, for the field they're going into, they receive a lot of training on using a chainsaw," she said. "Safety's always a big topic when building the Forester's Ball arena, so they get a lot of training."

The 97th annual Forester's Ball is March 21 and 22 in the Adams Center auxiliary gyms.

 

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