HOULTON – Houlton fire Chief Milton Cone and another firefighter were injured Tuesday night during a training exercise. The injuries were not life-threatening.

According to Deputy Chief Leland Cyr, an old house near the end of Cary Street was being burned for training when the accident occurred about 8 p.m.

A 4-inch hose line was being laid out to a fire hydrant about 1,000 feet away on Military Street.

Cone, firefighter-paramedic Mark Boutilier and firefighters Kevin Tingley and Kevin Harris were standing near the hose when it snagged and pulled up around their feet, knocking all four men down.

Cone reportedly suffered a severely dislocated right elbow. He was taken by ambulance to Houlton Regional Hospital and transferred Wednesday to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor where he was to undergo surgery.

Boutilier suffered bone chips in his elbow and was expected to be out of work for about two weeks. Tingley and Harris were not injured.

“It just happened,” Boutilier said Wednesday during a telephone interview from his home. “We were just standing there talking, and all of a sudden it just took our feet out from under us.”

Acting Town Manager Cathy O’Leary said Wednesday that she had spoken to Cone by telephone before he left for Bangor and he was in good spirits. She did not know how long he would be off the job.