ALLAMAKEE COUNTY, IA (KWWL/CNN) - A 67-year-old man had to be rescued after a barn fell on him during a severe storm in Iowa.
"There were two steel girders that went across that pinned the patient to the floor," Chief Dave Martin of the Waukon Fire Department said.
It took the help of more than 20 firefighters to cut him out.
"We had to watch what we took off to make sure that it wasn't structurally putting pressure on the patient," Martin said.
The crew worked delicately to cut Dennis Deal out.
"Every step we took we had to make sure that it didn't do anymore harm to him than what had already been done,” Martin said.
The rescue took about an hour and during that time Deal was conscious.
"He was conscious through the whole thing and we kept talking to him and kept him alert and everything worked out for the best," Martin said.
Crews were only able to locate Deal by the sound of his voice
“He couldn't really tell us where he was at so we did it by sound and got to the area and then worked our way down," Martin said.
Deal was actually able to call 911 from the spot where he was pinned but lost connection.
His son ended up calling a few minutes later.
The fire chief was not sure on Deal's condition, but he said he was airlifted to the hospital.
Copyright 2017 KWWL via CNN. All rights reserved.
