# Fatality: Volunteer drops tree on himself, Perry, Michigan



## Taxmantoo (Mar 18, 2009)

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009903180326
Perry man remembered as 'helpful guy'
Friends mourning firefighter who died in tree-felling accident

Kathryn Prater • [email protected] • March 18, 2009 • From Lansing State Journal

PERRY - Friends remember Perry firefighter Jeffrey Crawford as a dependable man who would do anything to help a friend.

He was helping people Friday when he was killed in a tree-felling accident, said Richard Burlingame, who knew Crawford through Perry's Masonic Lodge No. 350.

Crawford, 47, was helping two other Masons clear dead trees and undergrowth on a rural property just north of Perry, he said.

Crawford was cutting down a tree about noon Friday when the tree kicked back and hit him, said Dr. Joyce deJong, Shiawassee County's deputy medical examiner.

He died from blunt force injuries at Owosso Memorial Hospital.

"He was a very helpful guy. In any of our activities, he always would volunteer," said Burlingame, the Mason lodge's secretary.

"It's a sad occurrence and a sad situation. He was a good man."

Crawford was the group's treasurer, he said.

He also worked on the assembly line at General Motors Corp.'s Delta Township assembly plant.

"Jeff was very dependable. Any time there was a project that needed to be done at the fire station, Jeff was the first to volunteer," Perry Fire Department Chief Guy Hubbard said.

"He was a good guy. You could depend on him for anything. He was one of my best friends, and he made sure that you were OK. He made sure that if you needed anything, he was there to provide it."

Hubbard said they'd worked together since Crawford joined the department as a paid on-call firefighter 15 years ago.

Crawford volunteered to help with activities such as fire prevention at schools, fundraisers for the department, parades and funerals, Hubbard said.

The 1979 Perry High School graduate also was a member of the Shriners and helped out with the Perry Sports Boosters.

Crawford was an "outdoorsman," and loved to hunt and fish, Burlingame said.

Crawford is survived by his son, Drew; daughter, Kaitlyn; parents Gary and Diana Crawford, of Owosso; four brothers and many other family members.


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## tomtrees58 (Mar 18, 2009)

thats to bad sounds like a good man tom trees gc 580 f & a m


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## Ed*L (Mar 19, 2009)

Sad....I read that in last nights paper.

"Crawford was cutting down a tree about noon Friday when the tree kicked back and hit him, said Dr. Joyce deJong, Shiawassee County's deputy medical examiner."

I can't help but wonder if it barberchaired on him.

Ed


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## arbadacarba (Mar 19, 2009)

Here's to a life well lived. I take my hat off to the good people in life before all others!


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## Ed*L (Mar 20, 2009)

I spoke with a friend last night, he's a county sherrif deputy and was at the accident.

The guy was cutting on a blowdown, he cut the trunk about 10' up from the still attached root ball.
The trunk and rootball stood up after he cut, striking and throwing him appx. 20'.

Sad, with a little education this could have been prevented.

Ed


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## fsfcks (Apr 5, 2009)

That is a tragic accident.

Ed - can you explain more, either about how it happened, or how to avoid it? Maybe because of the way I would have cut this, but I cannot imagine how to get struck by root ball trunk. Was he leaning over the cut? I am trying to learn from this accident so I can be a better cutter.


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## Bermie (Apr 6, 2009)

There are incredible potential reactive forces in a recently windblown tree. 
Cutting bits off the top end and working back towards the rootball is what most uninitiated people do. As soon as the weight removed is less than the forces still contained in the roots and leverage of the rootball...UP she comes and sometimes with explosive force.
To make safe a blown down tree requires knowledge, experience. Sequence of cuts depending on bar size and trunk diameter is very important. I was taught to sever the trunk as close to the rootball as possible and most times, but depending on the angle of the blowdown, the rootball will move the most, thumping back down into its hole, then work on piecing everything else. 
Sometimes one will fool you, all those branches hiding everything, so you have to be REAL careful where your body parts are in relation to the trunk, branches and your saw.


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## fsfcks (Apr 6, 2009)

Bermie...thank you. I can imagine how that might have happened. I start from the root ball, with several cuts in a certain order, standing well to the tree top side for the last cut as far as I can reach. Even then I still jump slightly every time when that root ball slams into the ground. The forces are huge.


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