A worker with Bill Errera Towing and Recovery hooks up chains to a tractor that rolled over an embankment Tuesday, trapping a PennDot worker who has been cutting grass along Route 8 in Center Township.

CENTER TWP — Emergency responders say a PennDOT employee was injured Tuesday morning when a tractor rolled on top of him while he was mowing along Route 8 northbound, near the road's intersection with Unionville Road.

State Department of Transportation officials said Paul Carlantino, whose age was not immediately available, was on a mid-sized, open-top tractor and mowing past the road's guard rail when it overturned because of a steep grade, tumbling down the hillside. Unionville Volunteer Fire Company Chief Nathan Wulff said the vehicle pinned Carlantino's legs against the trunk of a downed tree, but he was able to reach his cell phone.

Carlantino, who is from Butler County and has been a department employee for three or four years, according to Bruce Hartman, the department's assistant county manager, called a PennDOT foreman who called 911 about 10:10 a.m. The accident drew emergency responders from Unionville, whose fire station is just across the road, South Butler and Prospect.

Wulff said that the accident's location and the fact that the tractor had not damaged the guard rail or left any visible sign along the road initially made it difficult for emergency responders to locate Carlantino. He said a quick response from Errera Towing helped firefighters identify the scene, where Carlantino was found in pain but alert and conscious.

“He was lucky to get to his phone because where that tractor was who knows when he would have been found,” Wulff said.”

Wulff said Carlantino was flown to Allegheny General Hospital for treatment of moderate injuries.