Wind topples big oak, hurts two campers

Two campers were critically injured early Friday when a large oak buffeted by high winds fell on them at a riverside park in Barling, Fort Smith Fire Chief Phil Christensen said.

Christensen said it took a crane to eventually lift the tree. The man and woman were in a tent on a primitive campsite at Springhill Park, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers park near James W. Trimble Lock and Dam on the Arkansas River.

He said Fort Smith and Barling Fire Departments were called to the park about 7:20 a.m. The man and woman were trapped by the tree. One of the rescuers was able to dig out one of the campers as the crane was being set up.

About 25 people from the two departments used cribbing — shoring up the tree with timbers — to prevent it from rolling or falling further onto the campers, Christensen said. He said neither department had equipment heavy enough to raise the tree.

Christensen said Holmes Crane Service in Fort Smith was called to provide a crane. Once the crane was in place, it took seconds to lift the tree enough to free the remaining camper, he said.

The identities of the injured man and woman were not available Friday. Information about the hospitals to which they were taken was not available.

Christensen said it appeared that the tree had blown over because its root ball was exposed.

Tulsa National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Teague said a line of storms with strong winds moved through the area from the northwest early Friday. Winds of up to 46 mph were reported about 6:50 a.m. at Fort Smith Regional Airport, he said.