Worker falls 30 feet from roof

MERRIMACK – A roofer working on an Island Drive house Monday morning fell about 30 feet and landed on his back, according to the Merrimack Fire Department, which responded to the scene.

Robert Fellows, 70, of Boston, was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, said Assistant Fire Chief Dave Parenti.

Fellows, who works for a Massachusetts roofing company, was up on a house at 71 Island Drive, when he apparently slipped off just before 10:15 a.m. It is unclear what caused the fall, Parenti said.

“His co-worker told us he was talking to him one minute, and he was off the next,” Parenti said.

Fellows landed on a pile of discarded roofing shingles, and when emergency workers arrived, he was “not much with it,” Parenti said. “We were extremely worried.”

Fellows did come to and was able to move his arms and legs before he was transported to the hospital, Parenti said.