Accident Briefs for July 2021

Type & number of incidents for July 2021.

Worker killed felling tree

A tree worker died July 1, 2021, in Orlando, Florida, when a tree he was removing for a local church fell on him.

The church had hired a tree-trimming service to remove four oak trees on the property. The trees had lost multiple limbs recently and were considered a hazard. The 40-year-old male victim was cutting down trees when a large tree trunk fell on him.

First responders found the man pinned underneath a heavy oak tree, and the man had no detectable vital signs. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, according to WKMG-TV News 6 and Fox 35 Orlando reports.

Climber rescued from spar

A climber was rescued by firefighters July 7, 2021, in Fredenberg, Minnesota, after he cut the top off a Norway pine and it somehow became caught in his harness, trapping him 40 to 50 feet up on the spar of the tree.

The rescue was a group effort. The Fredenberg Volunteer Fire Department, in a post that appeared on www.findglocal.com, thanked the Gnesen Fire Department, Hermantown Fire Department, St. Louis County Rescue Squad, St. Louis County Sheriff’s Department, Life Link Air Medical Transport and Mayo Ambulance, Steve Happy and Minnesota Power for use of their bucket trucks and “Noble Salminen from One Tree Care for his expertise in working with trees and rigging and especially for climbing up the tree to rescue the individual from a very scary and dangerous situation, bringing him down to safety on the ground.”

Owner killed in shop fire

A man died from severe burns he suffered when the workshop for his tree care business caught fire July 14, 2021, in Jackson County, Michigan.

Lonnie Miller, owner of Lonnie’s Hauling & Tree Service in Henrietta Township, died July 28 from complications of thermal burns he suffered during the July 14 fire.

In the aftermath of the fire, Miller was taken to the University of Michigan Hospital with second- and third-degree burns to about 60% of his body. The building was destroyed by the fire, according to a www.mlive.com report.

City arborist killed in struck-by

A city arborist died on the job after being struck by a falling limb July 14, 2021, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sean Hudson, 48, died after a tree or part of it apparently collapsed.

Hudson began his career with the city of Cleveland in 2017, according to News 5 Cleveland and cleveland.com reports.

Worker injured by stump grinder

A man was seriously injured by a stump grinder in Dix Hills, New York, July 16, 2021.

Rubiel Cordoso Chavez, 33, of Huntington Station, N.Y., was working for a local tree service at a home when he slipped, lost his footing and his leg became entangled in a stump-grinder wheel.

Dix Hills Fire Department and Suffolk County Police Department Emergency Services were able to extricate Chavez.

Chavez was transported via Suffolk County Police Helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious injuries, according to a report in The Huntingtonian.

Tree worker killed by cut tree

A worker cutting down a tree in a backyard July 19, 2021, in Newark, Maryland, was killed when a piece of the tree fell on him.

The 64-year-old man was part of a two-man team from a commercial tree-service company that was cutting down a tree. The man died at the scene, according to a Newark Post report.

Man, 91, killed felling tree

A 91-year-old man who was attempting to cut down a tree July 20, 2021, at his home in Vernon, New Jersey, was killed when it fell on him.

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the accident or if the man was working alone at the time, according to Daily Voice and apnews.com reports.

Retired tree worker killed in accident

Bruce B. “Pops” “Hitch” Hitchcock, Sr., 62, of Kennerdell, Pennsylvania, died July 23, 2021, as the result of a tree-
trimming accident. No additional details on the accident were available.

Hitchcock had operated Bruce & Son Tree Service, retiring in 2020, according to his obituary on www.hilebest.com.

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