A man and his 18-month-old daughter were driving along Rangiuru Rd, near Te Puke, when a tree began to fall and caught a powerline.
Senior Constable Bruce Gordon said the driver skidded into the tree and was trapped for 45 minutes.
The man and his daughter were uninjured.
"This is the best case scenario, it could have been so so worse. It could have been two dead very easily," Gordon said.
Arthur Butlin's neighbour was the driver of the ute.