A man who was hit on the head by a falling tree on South Whidbey was airlifted to a Harborview Medical Center in Seattle on Tuesday.

It’s unclear exactly what happened, but South Whidbey Fire/EMS responded to a location on Glendale Heights Road shortly before 3 p.m. A man was reportedly operating a chainsaw on a tree farm and was struck by a piece of wood.

“He was cutting a tree and it kicked back and then came back and hit him,” said Paul Busch, assistant chief for the fire district.

Busch said he couldn’t be sure of the man’s medical condition, but described his injuries as serious but not life-threatening.

“He was talking and understandably hurt from his injuries but nothing that appeared to me as life-threatening,” Busch said.

The man was transported by ambulance to the soccer fields on Langley Road. He was then sedated and airlifted to the Seattle hospital.

The assistant chief noted that this the second time in about a month where someone was injured while cutting wood. A Freeland man was hurt in November after the big storm under similar circumstances, he said, and subsequently airlifted from the field near Payless. The incidents make a strong case to take precautions and wear the appropriate safety gear, Busch said.

“Wear a safety helmet,” the chief said.