A commendation ceremony was held Thursday in City Council Chambers to celebrate the life-saving efforts of the police and fire department personnel that sprang into action and worked together to remove a tree which had fallen on Fred Naragon in his field in May. Shown from left, front row, Fire Inspector Derrick Day, Firefighter Dale Nelson, Naragon, Patrolman Lindsay Frass, Firefighter Justin Thompson, Lt. Kevin Bryan; back row, Firefighter Mike Bryan, Fire Chief Scott Mason, Sgt. Brent Slider, Patrolman Mike Edgerton and Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey. Not pictured are Police Chief J.T. Panezott, Capt. Steve Mix and Firefighter Steve Barnhouse. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)

SALEM — Members of the police and fire departments were recognized Thursday for their lifesaving efforts in freeing a Salem resident that had been pinned by a fallen tree.

Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey presented official city commendations to several members of Salem’s police and fire departments “in appreciation and gratitude” of their “rapid response, quick thinking and close collaboration” in the rescue of longtime Salem resident Attorney Fred Naragon in May.

“For you to save somebody, anybody, is just a wonderful thing and we are all appreciative of those wonderful things you do every day. But this was something very special. This was a very life-threatening incident that happened in our city, and it took a lot of specials skills, and I think it’s time that we start recognizing people more often for those kinds of unusual and difficult situations,” Dickey said.

Dickey said that Naragon is among Salem’s most widely known residents, who “wears a lot of hats” and “is involved in almost everything” in Salem. She described him as community leader, a caring friend, and the type of person “who can make you feel better on your very worst day with a corny, corny joke” — a leader who was nearly lost on May 4 when a large section of a partially uprooted tree fell on him and his tractor at his Edgewood Drive farm. Naragon’s description of the men and women that rescued him was simple: “heroes.”

“I was very fortunate these guys got there and got me out. Thank God, and thank them, they saved my life,” Naragon said.

Naragon said that while mowing a field he had encountered a fallen tree, and that while attempting to push it back into the tree line another section of the tree fell onto him pinning him between the tractor’s roll cage and seating area. Naragon said that the impact broke his arm, sternum, some of his ribs, and pushed some of his teeth through his lip, and required surgery and in-patient and out-patient rehabilitation.

“I couldn’t move. It was like slow-motion. All I could see was the tree coming towards me and crushing me,” Naragon said.

Naragon said that he was fortunate one of his neighbors had been outside and seen the accident to immediately call 911, as he hadn’t told anyone in his home that he was going out to mow. A sentiment that was shared by the police and fire personnel who responded to the call and stressed the importance of the rapid response time.

Fire Department Lt. Kevin Bryan and Firefighter Mike Bryan said that the total time between the arrival of emergency personnel and Naragon’s extrication was only a few minutes. They also stressed the importance of being able to begin and maintain immediate and seamless trauma care throughout the transport to the hospital through the department’s medical training and the fire department’s ambulance.

“We got the best possible outcome for this whole situation. We were able to rescue him and get him to the hospital,” Mike Bryan said.

“It was a team effort all around between our crew and the police department to get in and get it off of him,” Kevin Bryan said.

Kevin Bryan said that the police and fire department were dispatched to the scene together and that Patrolman Mike Edgerton, who was the first to arrive on scene and has a background in EMS, was able to request the necessary equipment while they were en route to the patient. Both Edgerton and Kevin Bryan said that the size and angle of the tree presented an immediate threat to Naragon’s life and made cutting it into sections with a chainsaw infeasible. Instead, Edgerton, Patrolman Lindsay Fraas, Sgt. Brent Slider, and Police Chief J.T. Panezott worked together to manually lift the tree enough for Naragon to breathe and be extracted by fire personnel for further assessment.

“We were able to lift that log up enough for the fire department to get him off the seat of the tractor…it was a team effort ultimately between the fire department and the police department that’s ultimately why Fred is alive. It was a team effort between all of us,” Edgerton said.

“It was a total team effort. I was the last to arrive at the scene and when I got there the chief instructed me to get around to the other side because they just couldn’t quite get the tree lifted because of its weight and adding that one extra person was just enough that we could get it off of him,” Slider said.

Once Naragon was freed, the fire department conducted a head-to-toe assessment to identify any immediate threats to his life and secure him to a transport cot. Fire Chief Scott Mason said that due to the muddy conditions in the field, the department’s ambulance was staged nearby in Naragon’s driveway and six members of the department worked together to carry and maneuver the cot to the ambulance for transport.

“It’s amazing that [Naragon] is doing as well as he is right now,” said Mason.

Mason and Slider both said that these kinds of emergency extrications are uncommon, though Mason said that the fire department has received similar calls in the past. He also estimated that roughly 65% to 70% of the fire department’s calls are rescue and EMS calls.

In total, 12 of Salem’s finest answered the call and worked together to save Naragon’s life — eight from the fire department and four from the police department, including both the police and fire chief and off-duty personnel. EMT also responded to the scene but were diverted to handle a concurrent medical emergency while the fire department’s ambulance remained on scene.

When asked about the rescue, all of them said they were simply doing their duty, with Slider noting that it was human nature to help those in need.

“We did our duty and what we’re trained to do. We received a call for a person in danger and went to rescue them,” said Kevin Bryan.

“It’s an instinct. I can tell you right now I could have been driving by and even if I wasn’t a police officer I would have gotten out and done the same thing. It’s just a human instinct to try to help when somebody is in need of help,” said Slider.