Tractor catches fire, man burned

Victim is eastern Ohioan

9/23/2012

 

WAUSEON — A man suffered second-degree burns Saturday night after a tractor on which he was riding caught fire at a tractor-pulling event at the Fulton County Fairgrounds.

The victim was driving a vintage tractor when “something went haywire and the tractor caught fire,” said Galen Chamberlin, a paramedic with the Wauseon Fire Department who was at the scene.

The incident took place around 10:30 p.m.

The victim, whose name was not released, is from eastern Ohio and is in his mid-50s. He was taken to Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo by air ambulance. His condition was unavailable Sunday.

Robert Badenhop, a board member of the Maumee Valley Pullers, said the event Saturday was the group’s annual truck and tractor pull, where drivers compete on pickup trucks and tractors to see who can pull a weight transfer machine the farthest.

Mr. Badenhop said the victim is expected to recover.