Snowboard Park Shutdown After Worker's Arm Caught In Gear Shaft

ALGONQUIN, Ill. (STMW) -- A snowboard and ski park in northwest suburban Algonquin was shut down Sunday afternoon after an employee's arm was caught in a gear shaft.

Numerous fire agencies responded to a technical rescue at 1:46 p.m. at Raging Buffalo Snowboard Ski Park, 19-265 Western Ave., Algonquin Fire Battalion Chief John Greene said in a release. More than 30 personnel worked to remove the 17-year-old boy's arm from a conveyer lift.

The teen was flown at 2:47 p.m. to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, according to Greene. The employee's condition was not immediately known and the incident is still under investigation.

Fire agencies from Elgin, Carpentersville, Cary and Lake Zurich, among others, confirmed they dispatched crews to the scene.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the park confirmed the person injured was an employee and said the park closed due to an "emergency."

"The thing we care about most right now is the care for the person," the spokesman said.

Griffin Flack was at the ski park when the incident happened and said more than 10 fire trucks were on scene. The 17-year-old said an employee at the park told him that an employee got his arm stuck in one of the gear shafts at the Magic Carpet, a beginner's hill.

"They closed down the hill," Flack said. "And there were a bunch of ambulances ... An employee said no children were injured."