Police: Chelsea man killed while unloading industrial equipment in Barre

BARRE — A 49-year-old Chelsea man died in a workplace incident in Barre earlier this week, according to the Barre City Police.

Shortly after 1 p.m. on Tuesday, workers at a Bellavance Trucking warehouse, located at 33 Smith Street in Barre, were unloading two large pieces of industrial conveyor tracks from a flatbed tractor trailer using a crane system mounted to the warehouse ceiling, Barre City Police Chief Brad Vail wrote in a Friday email.

At some point, the workers realized that the conveyor track was falling. One of the workers, Arthur Sanford, 49, of Chelsea, sought to retreat down a set of metal stairs used to climb onto the flatbeds, but slipped and fell.

The conveyor track then landed on Sanford, pinning him to the ground. Other workers and responders from the Barre City Fire Department attempted to free him.

He was initially alert and responsive, but was pronounced dead after arriving at Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin.

Vermont’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration was notified and is investigating.