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Kirkland firefighters save man trapped under vehicle

Kirkland firefighters responded to a van rollover, which trapped a man by the legs on Tuesday. The man sustained minor injuries and was transported to EvergreenHealth that day. - R. Maes/ Kirkland Fire Corps Photographer
R. Maes/ Kirkland Fire Corps Photographer
Kirkland firefighters responded to a van rollover, which trapped a man by the legs on Tuesday. The man sustained minor injuries and was transported to EvergreenHealth that day.

By RAECHEL DAWSON
Kirkland Reporter Reporter
January 30, 2013 · 10:14 AM

Kirkland firefighters saved a 58-year-old man trapped under his vehicle in the Highlands neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon.

The man found his lower legs pinned under his large white van at the 9500 block of 112th Ave. N.E. around 1:20 p.m.

Kirkland police Lt. Mike Murray said the man was working on a job site when he parked and assumed he put the emergency break on, but failed to do so. When he noticed the van start to roll, he climbed back inside to stop it.

“The man tried to stop his van from rolling back down a driveway and the vehicle turned and then rolled over, trapping him inside the vehicle with his legs outside the passenger compartment…,” according to a Kirkland Firefighter’s Facebook post.

Firefighters lifted the van, which was on its side, off the man’s legs and used air bags, the Jaws of Life and cribbing to do so. The extrication was fairly complex because the vehicle was on an incline.

Medics provided aid to the man, but Murray said he sustained pretty bad injuries to both ankles. He was taken to EvergreenHealth shortly after.

At least six fire and aid units responded to the accident.

Photos by R. Maes/Kirkland Fire Corps Photographer

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Contact Kirkland Reporter Reporter Raechel Dawson at rdawson@kirklandreporter.com or 425-822-9166 X5052.

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