# Climber in SO CAL Cheats death



## FSburt (Oct 14, 2007)

Here's the write up from a person that was at the scene.




I am afraid these pics don't do the accident justice. The 24 year old Edison contract tree trimmer was tied on to a 17 " DBH white fir. It was about 45 + feet tall and he was 2/3 s up and going to saw the top off. It (the top) was tethered and the ground crews were going to pull it to a safe area (?). When it went, it swung down and hit the trunk dead center about 15' below the climber. It snapped the tree off and he had an "E" ticket ride to the ground. He would have probably been killed but a small wood shed sort of broke his fall. He was still tied to the tree when his crew lowered him to the ground. Puncture to thigh, bloody mouth, large bruise to the upper chest, badly deformed and fractured wrist, 5 min. unconscious. He was also a non-English speaker so we had to translate all his moans and groans. We flew him out and I haven't heard any further.
(The first pic shows the light colored tree top that caused to damage. The dark log is the one he was tied to. The second shows where we found him -- you can see the climber's belt on the ground. Also notice the large and very pointed rock that he would have landed on if the shed wasn't there--- ouch!!)
:jawdrop:


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## Mitchell (Oct 14, 2007)

*Thanks for sharing the information*

I sure hope your mate will be OK. He is lucky if he has no long term dissabilites from that fall.
Not sure of the details you described. 
Was the top tethered to the stem thus causing the top stem strike? If not how did it hit the stem?
It looks like no undercut was used is that normal ops?
thanks again for the information


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## daveyclimber (Oct 16, 2007)

Dead firs are deadly! I recently removed a similar sized tree that was dead for 2 years and I couldn't help but think the worst while blowing out the top. I never go higher than halfway up these trees when they are dead. We wish him a speedy recovery


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## Fireaxman (Oct 16, 2007)

Could one of you high-speed guys re-size these photos for the benefit of us underprivileged dial-up folks?


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## FSburt (Oct 16, 2007)

*Info passed to me*

Hey fellas this was info that was passed on to me I do not know the person or work in the area. Sorry about the big pics but wanted to get them out in a hurry.


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## Fireaxman (Oct 16, 2007)

Thanks, Treeco, for the re-size.

Thanks, FSburt for the original post. I've been looking at 2 similar jobs, one a loblolly and another an oak, wondering if I should attempt them. Pretty good diameter, bark still tight, wood very solid at the base, but dead as a hammer.

Forget'em !! Not me !! No way !! 

Amazing how this web site seems to provide me with just the advice I need at just the right time.


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## Bigus Termitius (Oct 16, 2007)

Let's see...

So Cal..."no inglés..."

...I can't help but wonder...:censored:

I sure hope he's alright though.


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## superfire (Oct 17, 2007)

*lucky sob*

no hablo ingles:censored: what the the hellz belz. I wonder why he climbed a plainly rotten tree. sorry to hear about this poor persons accident hope he will live. most of his rope looks second rate


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## joesawer (Oct 22, 2007)

There is a large strap choker rigged on that tree. Looks like a drop and catch set up to me. The saddle is the cheap uncomfortable kind with a speed saw scabbard. Looks like the kind for a ROW trimmer. No place for a speed saw in these removals.
"The Oaks" tree service had a fatality last year involving a drop and catch on a dead Edison tree. I wonder if this could possibly be pics from that incident. The same company had a fatality the year before involving felling a tree. I attended several of the safety meetings after that fatality. The sad thing is that virtually no one was better trained or any less likely to die after the extra meetings than before.
I have done a few thousand dead firs, for Edison contractors in this area, but no more Edison contract work for me.


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