HAWLEY — Two Hawley residents were transported to Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield Thursday night after their vehicle went off the road, and landed on its roof in a brook off Buckland Road.
According to Fire Chief Greg Cox, a husband and wife were driving home at around 7 p.m. when they came around a sharp corner on Buckland Road, with a driveway coming off of it.
“They didn’t go around the driveway, they went into the driveway, and it’s where two brooks join,” he said. “Their vehicle went over a low barrier and ended up upside down in the smaller brook.”
Extra manpower was required to extricate the two 80-year-old occupants, Cox said, because the brook was about 10 feet below the nearest embankment.
“We have snow on the ground, so it’s really slick,” he explained. “With snow melt, there was probably a foot of water in the brook.”
After Hawley firefighters and EMTs arrived, extra assistance was requested of Charlemont, Colrain and Shelburne Falls ambulances. State Police also responded.
“You could not move a stretcher with a person on it in the brook,” Cox said. “You had to have enough people so you could pass it person to person, otherwise you’d fall.”
Cox said it was a “challenging” extrication. It took about an hour to get the two occupants out of the SUV, stabilized and up to the ambulances.
He said both patients were conscious and alert when they were transported to Baystate Franklin.
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne