SOUTH CHINA — A woman injured in an apparent logging accident was being treated Thursday at a Portland hospital.
Arlene Smith, 75, was in serious condition, according to a Maine Medical Center spokesman.
Smith is retired from the State Department of Health of Human Services, according to published reports.
Smith’s sister, Julia Marois, who lives on Lakeview Drive across the street from her sister, said Smith’s family had gathered in Portland.
“She’s not doing well,” Marois said Thursday.
Smith was initially taken by a LifeFlight helicopter to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Marois said. Smith was subsequently transferred to Portland.
The accident occurred Wednesday morning as Smith was helping cut wood on her property, Marois said. Responders initially believed she had been hit by a falling tree, but Smith’s doctors have since said they do not believe that is what happened.
“Nobody really knows,” Marois said.
China Village Fire Chief George Studley said the accident occurred about a mile into the woods.
“We drove as close as we could with pickups and rescue (vehicles),” Studley said.
Firefighters carried Smith a couple hundred yards to get from the accident scene to the trucks, Studley said.
Studley said Smith was talking at the time of the rescue.
Law enforcement was not called to the accident. A spokesman for the Maine Forest Service said rangers did not respond and do not plan to investigate.
An anniversary announcement published in October of 2006 said Smith and Ernest Smith were married in South China in 1956. They had two children, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, at the time.
Craig Crosby — 621-5642
ccrosby@mainetoday.com
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