3 December, 1991 (~estimated)
Man hurt in mishap on roof
Contractor listed in critical condition
By John P. McAlpin
Staff Writer
A critically injured roofing contractor had to be airlifted by helicopter from the Riverside School Monday afternoon after he fell through a skylight opening that had been covered with tar paper, Princeton Township police said.
Peter Gaug, a 33-year-old resident of Jackson Township, was working on an addition to a home on Mason Drive, about four blocks from the school, Lt. Mario Musso said.
Mr. Gaug was being treated in the emergency mom at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Monday night. Officials said his injuries, mostly internal, were critical.
At about 1:15 p.m., Mr. Gaug was walking on the roof when he fell through an opening cut for a skylight, Lt. Musso said.
Another contractor working on the home covered the roof in tar paper, preparing it for the final stages of roofing. “Somebody had covered the opening for the skylight in tar paper,” Lt. Musso said. “He was walking on the tar paper, fell through the tar paper and the skylight.”
Mr. Gaug landed on the floor about 13 feet billow, Lt. Musso said.
Rescue workers decided his injuries were so severe that he needed to be flown to the hospital in New Brunswick.
Members of the rescue squad and the Hook and Ladder Company of the Princeton Fire Department prepared a landing site at the Riverside School, Lt. Musso said.
The helicopter landed on the school’s playing fields, Lt. Musso said.
Emergency Medical Technicians and other rescue workers transfer injured roofing contractor from ambulance to a helicopter that landed on Riverside School athletic fields Monday afternoon.
The helicopter takes off for a New Brunswick trauma center.