The brisk winds whipping through the area on Thursday caused a tree to tumble down onto a man and his dog while they were hiking on a trail in Chelmsford, Fire Chief Gary Ryan said, one of two serious incidents involving downed trees there that day.

The Chelmsford Fire Department was dispatched around 11:20 a.m. to 105 Mill Rd. where they took an off-road vehicle up a trail adjacent to the Murphy soccer fields, finding the man and his dog with only minor injures.

Ryan said crews used the Gator vehicle to transport the two out of the trails and into the open field, where medical crews were waiting.


While the man reportedly faced minor injuries, his dog was treated on scene and transported to a nearby animal hospital.

Just a day later, on Friday morning, strong winds continued to sweep through the area and Chelmsford Police Chief James M. Spinney reported that another man, 47, was struck by a falling tree.

Spinney said the second incident happened around 9:12 a.m. near 2 Chamberlain Road, where first responders found a landscaper who had been working in the backyard of someone’s home.

The man had reportedly been hit in the head by a tree that was being knocked down, and was taken by a medical helicopter to a local trauma center with serious, but reportedly not life-threatening injuries.