Homeowner killed in struck-by
A homeowner was killed when he was struck in the head by a tree or tree limb while cutting trees on his property June 10, 2021, in Smiths Station, Alabama.
Jeffery Allen Ward, 58, had been cutting some trees on his property with a chain saw. When he did not return to the house at lunch or shortly after, family and friends initiated a search and located him under some branches in a wooded area on the property. It appeared he suffered a major head injury and was killed instantly. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a WRBL news report.
Report sent in by Eric Gansauer, an arborist in Phenix City, Alabama.
Man rescued from tree
A man was rescued from more than 50 feet up in a tree June 17, 2021, in Springfield, Massachusetts, and it was reported he may have been up in the tree for at least a day.
The Springfield Fire Department was called at around 5 a.m., but their bucket truck wasn’t able to reach the man, because there were too many other trees in the way.
Two Hampden County Sheriff’s Department employees, Benjamin Belisle, an arborist program instructor, and police officer Chris Lavallee, assisted in the recovery using climbing and rigging gear. The man was placed in a body harness and safely brought to the ground.
The man had a serious cut and was taken to Baystate Medical Center for evaluation. It was unclear why the man climbed the tree, and a police report said he had been in the tree for at least a day, according to a WWLP-22News report.
Worker hurt in struck-by
A tree worker using a loader to fell trees June 18, 2021, in Forsyth, Georgia, was injured after a tree struck the loader, ejecting him. The tree worker told deputies his boss then refused to take him to the hospital after he had broken his collarbone.
According to a sheriff’s office incident report, Alvin Orlando Smith, 37, of Forsyth, said he was injured around 7 p.m. while working a job for a local tree service. Smith said his supervisor and another worker were cutting down a tree on the property. He was told by the supervisor to get inside the loader and push the tree so it would fall in a different direction. That is when the tree struck the loader, according to a report in the Monroe County Reporter.
Additional details were not available.
