Palmer firefighter still critical on Saturday

PALMER -- As of Saturday morning Palmer volunteer firefighter Todd Russell was in critical condition after receiving death-threatening head injuries while responding to one of the many brush fires during last week's wind storm.

Russell was injured in an accident at about 11 a.m., in which a pole sign gave way and crushed part of the vehicle he was riding in, according to Palmer Fire

Chief Dan Contini.

High winds knocked over the sign that advertises gas prices at the Chevron station on the corner of Evergreen and the Glenn Highway. The sign crushed the passenger side of a Palmer Fire Department command vehicle -- a red truck outfitted with radio communications and light firefighting and rescue gear. Contini said Russell was riding in the passenger seat while Assistant Fire Chief Barry Mothershead drove.

"They were just turning north on the Glenn Highway when it happened," Contini said.

Family members have been at Russell's bedside in the intensive care unit at Providence since Thursday night.

"Todd's dad Loren Russell and his wife Rebecca were there with him all night," Contini said. "But Todd's condition improved enough that [Rebecca] felt comfortable enough to come home and get some rest," Contini said.

"He has responded to pinching and so-forth and that's a great sign. But it's a time thing … Todd has made some remarkable improvement but he is still in critical," Contini said.

Despite dozens of emergency calls during the storm, Russell was one of only two people known to have been seriously injured due to the high winds. The other was a man injured when a barn was battered by high winds on Farm Loop Road, north of Palmer. The Frontiersman has no details on the Farm Loop accident as of press time for this edition.