The Recorder – Orange resident airlifted for treatment following rollover

ORANGE — An elderly Orange resident was airlifted to the hospital after his vehicle rolled over across from the Orange Gun Club Sunday morning, according to responding police officers Jungfil Seo and Timothy Powling.

“Due to the mechanisms of the injury, the patient was flown to UMass Medical Center in Worcester with non-life-threatening injuries,” Fire Capt. Mark Fortier said.

Fortier said the Orange Police and Fire departments responded to a call about a single-vehicle accident at 7:57 a.m. at the intersection of West River Street and Oaklawn Avenue. The driver, a man who Seo and Powling said was around 80 years old, was able to escape the vehicle without extrication and emerged “relatively stable,” Fortier said.

“It did not require use of the Jaws of Life,” Fortier said of the accident, adding that the occupant was wearing a seatbelt and the airbags had deployed.

While the incident remains under investigation, police believe that the accident was caused by a “medical issue,” as reported by Police Chief James Sullivan.

The affected area of West River Street was blocked to traffic for around an hour as first responders worked to have the vehicle, a brown Subaru, removed. The Fire Department announced on Facebook that the road reopened at around 9:05 a.m.

Reach Julian Mendoza
at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or jmendoza@recorder.com.