A man whose identity was not released by emergency responders is in critical condition after crashing his truck into a tree near Freeland Hall on Friday afternoon.

The man, described as an older male by Island County Sheriff’s Deputy Darren Crownover, was unresponsive when deputies and emergency medical technicians arrived to the scene about 1:15 p.m. The truck, a Ford with Montana license plates, was found struck head-on into a madrona tree, splintering some of the branches.

Several emergency responders were attempting CPR for more than 10 minutes before putting him onto a stretcher and into an ambulance bound for Whidbey General Hospital. Due to federal health privacy laws, law enforcement and South Whidbey Fire/EMS Deputy Chief Jason Laughren, who just started his job earlier this month, said they could not specify what happened, or if the man had a pulse when they put him into the aid truck.

“They’re still working on him, so that’s a good sign,” Crownover said.

There were no other people or vehicles believed to have been involved, the officer said. The only witnesses were the people who called in the crash from Freeland Park, down below the scene of the collision, who had heard it.