Firefighters used an air bag to extricate the woman who was conscious and alert.
LUDLOW – A Lyon Street woman, trapped by a collapsing barn Tuesday afternoon, escaped serious injury, fire officials said.
Emergency personnel used an air bag and cribbing to extricate the woman whose ankle had been trapped by debris from the partially-collapsed barn, Fire Department Capt. Edwin Prokup said.
She was treated at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and released, Prokup said.
The barn, at 1017 Lyon St., collapsed shortly after 3 p.m.
Prokup said the couple had been standing outside the rear of the barn, inspecting it, when it suddenly collapsed. The falling structure pushed the man out of harm’s way but trapped the woman, he said.
“The barn had been creaking and popping and sagging over the last few days,” Prokup said, adding he believes the barn was over 100-years-old.
Police arrived before firefighters and were working to shore upthe structure when firefighters arrived.
Firefighters used cribbing to protect the woman in case of further collapse and lifted the wreckage on her ankle with an air bag.
“We only had to lift it an inch to get it out,” Prokup said, adding that the woman was conscious and alert throughout her ordeal.
The barn was one-story tall in the front and two-stories in the rear where there was a walk-out area, Prokup said.