Road Worker Hurt In Loader Wreck

Tue., Oct. 13, 1998

From Staff Reports

A Spokane County road worker injured his back Monday when a front-end loader he was driving rolled over and caught fire, firefighters said.

The incident occurred about 10:50 a.m. near the intersection of Argonne and Lindgren roads in the northeast part of the county.

Heavy equipment operator Wes Green was part of a crew that was cleaning out ditches in the area, said Phil Barto, the county’s operations engineer.

The loader apparently slipped into one of the ditches and rolled over on its top, firefighters said.

Green, who has worked for the county for about 20 years, crawled out of the machine and walked back to the road under his own power. He wasn’t burned.

He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital after complaining of back pain, District 9 firefighters said.

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