iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

5-Year Old Killed By Tree

Started by Phorester, January 17, 2006, 10:43:43 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Phorester


Sunday there occured a horrible accident in our community.  A large tree had been uprooted behind a residence in high winds the day before.  The father was out in the yard cutting off limbs and bucking the tree from the top down toward the root ball.  Unknown to him, his 5-year old son had wandered out of the house and was playing in the hole behind the root ball out of sight.

At some point the father finally cut off enough weight from the tree trunk that it made the root ball heavier than the remainder of the tree still attached to it.  The remainder of the tree then sat upright back into the hole.  His son was pinned underneath the root ball as it slammed back into the hole.  He was trapped from the chest down, underneath the tree, face up in the hole.  His legs were folded back over his head, his feet resting on either side of his face. He also suffered a severe concussion on the back of his head.  Amazingly and unfortunately he was not killed instantly.  He lay in agony for a couple of minutes before he expired. It took a full size fire truck and 15 firemen to pull the top of the tree out of the hole to retrieve his body.

It doesn't matter why you are cutting up a tree, whether for a load of firewood, clearing fallen trees out of your yard, it doesn't matter. When you begin cutting that tree you immediately enter into one of the most dangerous professions in the United States.  You have become a logger.  Be careful.

Jeff

This happens more then you think. I'll find it somewhere on here. Sounds almost identical to a previous case.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Jeff

Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Brad_S.

Same thing happened in the town I live in about a decade ago after a microburst brought down trees in the area. I can't imagine a father having to live with that kind of guilt for the rest of his days.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." J. Lennon

Tom

My neighbor lost his dog this way. 

This story makes me so sad that can hardly stand it.

Steve

Me too Tom. I can't imagine going through something like that. I don't think I am strong enough. :'(
Steve
Hawaiian Hardwoods Direct
www.curlykoa.com

isassi

The 2 minutes after the boll fell in would be Hell on earth.....I went a gave my little girl a hug after reading that...she is asleep, but it made me feel a little better.  :(

Max sawdust

That is awefull :'(
Thanks for shareing the story.  It reminds me that I have very large Hemlock that uprooted to a 45 degree angle not to far from the house so my 3 year old does know where it is cause we have played on the top of the root ball.  My wife let him go under once, but we put a stop to that.  Tree has been this way for a long time.

When I take it down I will make sure the kids are in the house.

Thanks again for the reminder.
Max
True Timbers
Cedar Products-Log & Timber Frame Building-Milling-Positive Impact Forestscaping-Cut to Order Lumber

Jim_Rogers

The father is not the only one who should feel bad, whoever was suppose to be watching the son should have seen him go outside......
So many times we hear about sad things like this on the news and it all comes down to lack of supervision by a parent....... or someone in charge of the kids.....
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

Burlkraft

What a horrible story.

I feel so bad for the family...I can't even imagine.
Why not just 1 pain free day?

Corley5

It sends a chill down my spine just imagining it :( :'( especially when I'm the father of a soon to be 4 year old.
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

timberjack240

thats not good to hear . people seem to wonder why when im runnin the skidder i knock em down now i gess i have proof to my reason of what happens. my paps nephew died that way. according to him he was pullin on it with a lawn mower when he was a kid and somethin happend and it pinned him and he suffocated . i know i wouldnt have wanted ot been the guy that was cuttin but hte was an honest accident the guy didnt know he wsas there the kid shouldnt have been there and whoever was watchin him shoulda kept him outta there.... but its still not a good situation

rebocardo

Thank you for the post, it really makes you think about all the things we do and take for granted. I feel so bad for the little guy, what a horrible way to die.


Paul_H

Quote from: joasis on January 18, 2006, 06:57:26 AM
I went a gave my little girl a hug after reading that...she is asleep, but it made me feel a little better.  :(

I did the same last night after reading this story.One daughter is 3 1/2 and the other is 5.

A real heartbreaker.
Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

Texas Ranger

Shoot, I called my 30 and 27 year olds just to hear them.  Heart aches in that little town in West Virginia.
The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

Black_Bear

Not a good situation whatsoever. The father may not have thought that such a thing could occur. I have seen plenty of root systems that do not budge once the tree is severed from the roots. But, the bottom line is that just being aware of inherent danger often prevents it. I feel for the guy and his family.

I believe that a majority of logging accidents occur from falling objects, but this same thing occurred to a friend of mine who was logging by himself (mistake 1) and who was cutting a cluster of blown over trees. He had his head and chest pinned under a root ball that was released (mistake 2). At first, when he attempted to get out, he couldn't. He does not know for sure how long he was under there, but adrenaline finally took over because he was thinking of his family. He finally got out with minimal damage, but he hasn't cut alone since.

On another side note, my uncle squished his son's and granddaughter's Jack Russell Terrier last fall. He was loading his Dodge ton truck, which has 4' wooden extensions on the sides to accommodate more logs, when one of the logs slipped off the truck and landed on the opposite side of the truck from the loader. He didn't think anything of it until he was fully loaded and was starting to strap his load. That poor dog was dead from a 10' long, 10" diameter yellow birch falling from 9'.

Be careful out there!

maple flats

This is why when I cut with my grandson helping, I have him stand back a long ways, farther than 2x the tree height and have him stand near a big healthy tree in case he needs to get behind it if something flys off as it crashes. He is also behind me and slightly to the side and he has the cell phone and knows how to use it. Logging is dangerous. I must admit however that I often cut alone. I study the tree and where i want it to fall, plan escape routes, but I realize I am taking a chance every time. So far not even a cut but the worst could happen at any time.
logging small time for years but just learning how,  2012 36 HP Mahindra tractor, 3point log arch, 8000# class excavator, lifts 2500# and sets logs on mill precisely where needed, Woodland Mills HM130Max , maple syrup a hobby that consumes my time. looking to learn blacksmithing.

jon12345

I wouldn't be able to live with myself.  My son is only a little over a year, and although he doesn't go outside by himself there are times I can't keep track of him.  If I was doing something dangerous I would make it clear to whoever was watchin him, that he is not to go outdoors or be near what I was doing.  I'm sure the farthest thing from this guys mind was that the rootball would fall back in the hole, but when it comes down to it, the person operating the saw is ultimately responsible for what happens.       :-\ 


maple flats, what felling method do you use?
A.A.S. in Forest Technology.....Ironworker

Faron

It would be awful to lose a child that way, with no way to help.  In my time as a volunteer firefighter, the worst situations I was ever invoved with were the deaths of young children.  You just have a hard time getting past the loss of someone so young, and the anguish of the parents.  My family is praying for those parents.
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.  Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote. - Ben Franklin

Max sawdust

Quote from: maple flats on January 18, 2006, 08:36:13 PM
Logging is dangerous. I must admit however that I often cut alone. I study the tree and where i want it to fall, plan escape routes, but I realize I am taking a chance every time. So far not even a cut but the worst could happen at any time.

I often work alone too.  I carry a cell phone and do a lot of planning prior to cutting.  If something does not look right I move on and save it for a day I have help. 
Max
True Timbers
Cedar Products-Log & Timber Frame Building-Milling-Positive Impact Forestscaping-Cut to Order Lumber

Black_Bear

Many of my friends still work by themselves. I think it is a way of life (work or starve) and most of them do not think twice about it. 

Being cut by a saw used to be the least of my worries, although I must admit it happened once about 10 years ago. It was the debris from above that used to get ya. I've seen too many hard hats cracked in two (better than your skull I guess) and had one friend who had to get his ear reattached after some popple debris fell on him.

Hey, if it was easy everyone would be doing it. I don't cut wood everyday anymore and I miss it when I'm away for too long. I'm sure most of you feel that way.

Phorester

Since this accident, there has been discussion among the firemen of another one that happened about 20 years ago.  A friend of mine was holding his 3 year old son on his lap while on his farm tractor. It was a true farm tractor, a tall John Deere. He was going for a little drive of only 100 yards from his back porch to the barn, and picked up his son to take along.  How many times have we heard not to do this?  But "it was only for a short ways......"

In that short space, the tractor bounced, he lost grip of his son, and he fell underneath the rear wheel, killed instantly.  This one was made worse because the father was also a volunteer fireman and every fireman who came on that call knew the family and the little boy.  My oldest child was about the same age as his, and the funeral was a real killer for me.  It was an open casket, I started down the aisle to see him and pay my last respects, but just could not do it. There is a good chance that this father also came on the rescue call with the 5 year old underneath the tree, but I don't know if he did or not.

How many times have we all done something like that?  Just a little ways..., it won't take long...it'll be fun.......etc.  Our lives don't cross much anymore, but I still see this friend occasionally, and with raising kids of my own, I can't comprehend having to live with something like this.

Take the trainings, follow the safety rules, use common sense, take nothing for granted, Be careful, be careful, be careful, especially when there might be kids around.

WH_Conley

That's the reason I got out of EMS, ya can only take so many of cases like that til it's time to move on.
Bill

mometal77

A 5-6 yr girl was killed about a month ago when a 8 inch fir branch dropped on her in the park.  How sad to bring your daughter to the park to have fun and she runs ahead and you later catch up  i couldnt imagine.  Same thing happened a few years back when a father bought his son a dump truck one that was a double and after dumping you could put the back box into the front it got stuck and he put his head in to see what the fuss was about bad things do happen..
Too many Assholes... not enough bullets..."I might have become a millionaire, but I chose to become a tramp!

Max sawdust

Quote from: mometal77 on January 29, 2006, 07:14:22 AM
A 5-6 yr girl was killed about a month ago when a 8 inch fir branch dropped on her in the park.  How sad to bring your daughter to the park to have fun and she runs ahead and you later catch up  i couldnt imagine. 
Ya when I was 10 or so one friend and his little brother were "killed" by a freak accident.  They rode in the back of a pick up on a matteress going to the dump, and a Semi came by and sucked it out.  One was killed instantly the other I wished was :'( :'( :'(
They were two of my best friends I was 10 >:(  Just played with them the day before it happened. 
IT CHANGED ME.  Ya Ya never let kids ride in the back of a truck on a highway, but also ;D Enjoy those you love every day, ya never know when it is your day to die.   :-\  Especially us who log..
Max
True Timbers
Cedar Products-Log & Timber Frame Building-Milling-Positive Impact Forestscaping-Cut to Order Lumber

Thank You Sponsors!