One small drawback to rural coastal living is dealing with pesky wildlife. While bears are beautiful creatures, if they get into your garbage cans, they can create quite a mess. No one understands this better than Michael Irish of Coos Bay, Oregon. While out one night doing some maintenance to help keep the hulking neighborhood bears away from his trash bins, the brakes and transmission went out on his old pickup truck. Try as he might, Michael could not get the truck to stop or even slow down. Barreling backward down a 35-degree grade, Michael’s truck slammed into his neighbor’s power pole, sheering it in half and causing live power lines to get entangled with the vehicle before it careened off the roadway and into some nearby trees.
The Curry County Sherriff, along with the Harbor Volunteer Fire Department and Coos-Curry Power Department, responded within minutes and set about safely extricating Michael from the truck. Just as Michael was freed from his vehicle, a Cal-Ore ground ambulance unit arrived.
“The fire crew pulled me out of the truck and put me right into the arms of the Cal-Ore team. They secured me in the ambulance and immediately began checking for signs of a skull fracture, etc. This crew made the trip to the hospital seem both fast and smooth. They showed great regard and professionalism in looking after me, but also in looking after my wife,” said Michael. “The Cal-Ore team along with Coos-Curry Power Department and the Harbor Fire department saved my life with their quick professionalism while being patient in every action so as not to endanger me or the neighborhood.”
