Three people were injured on Monday when a 100-foot pine tree fell onto a pickup truck as it was traveling down an east-central Massachusetts highway, authorities said.
According to the Princeton Police Department, the crash was caused by “a random act of nature” when the tree fell onto the vehicle on Fitchburg Road.
The incident occurred at about 7 a.m. ET in the area of Leominster State Forest, Spectrum News 1 reported.
Princeton Fire Chief John Bennett told the news outlet that windy conditions caused the 2-foot-wide tree to topple.
“The tree literally came across the hood of the truck through the windshield and basically we had one person trapped,” Bennett said. “The truck was on fire, (and) the driver actually self-extricated from the vehicle.
“And then we had an individual in the back seat.”
Bennett added that one of the victims was injured after glass got into his eyes, Spectrum News 1 reported.
All three people in the vehicle were taken to an area hospital, the Princeton Police Department said.
The injuries were minor, but Bennett said they could have been much worse.
“Actually, very, very, very lucky,” he told Spectrum News 1. “Everybody’s going to be fine. They were all transported. They were all evaluated.
“This could have ended very differently. We thought there were life-threatening injuries for the driver because of the amount of impact and the steering wheel was pushed all the way up into the windshield and there was actually a tree through the windshield. However, he got very lucky.”
Princeton is located approximately 63 miles west of downtown Boston and 17 miles north of Worcester.
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