Sweet Home and Oregon Department of Forestry personnel responded Wednesday, June 21, to a fallen tree across Highway 20 at Milepost 39, east of Sweet Home.
The tree blocked both lanes of the highway and downed power lines, sparking a small fire.
It kind of evolved into a bigger deal than we expected,” SHFAD Batallion Chief Randy Whitfield said.
The tree was about 3 feet in diameter, officials said.
Pacific Power and Light linesman Travis Miner was “the hero of the day,” Whitfield said.
Miner arrived quickly on the scene to de-energize the lines, according to a Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District report.
ODF personnel cut up the tree and SHFAD was able to pull the four large chunks off the road “fairly rapidly,” he said.
He said the job was completed in about an hour and 20 minutes.
“ODOT was pretty happy we did it as quickly as we did,” Whitfield said.
During the operation, SHFAD medics responded to a call involving a pregnant woman about 10 miles further east in Cascadia who thought she was going into labor, Whitfield said.
Because the highway was blocked, SHFAD had to go over Whiskey Butte to get to her and transport her to the hospital, he said. Whitefield said he was unsure of whether or not the baby actually was born.