Man 'lucky to get away' following mower rollover, fire

BY JOHN DECOSTE

jdecoste@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

Firefighters often are called to respond to mishaps involving vehicle rollovers, but they’re usually cars or trucks, not lawn mowers.

On Wednesday afternoon, July 23 at about 3 p.m., Kentville firefighters responded to a report of a lawn mower rollover on Campbell Road. According to Kentville fire chief Shawn Ripley, a young man had been mowing grass on the side of a hill when the ride-on mower he was operating tipped over and landed on top of him.

The automatic shut-off feature on the mower failed to stop the motor, and with the machine still running, fuel from the mower leaked onto the exhaust pipe, causing the mower to catch fire with the young man still trapped beneath it.

Luckily, the man was able to escape from underneath the mower with what Ripley described as fairly serious cuts and bruises, but, it appeared, nothing worse. “He was really lucky to get away,” Ripley said.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire fairly quickly, though not without significant damage to the mower.