# Maine fatality- 5 yr old boy



## peterc38 (Nov 16, 2010)

Bummer 

http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Portland/5-year-old-crushed-to-death-by-tree-in-Pownal,158678


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## joecool85 (Nov 16, 2010)

peterc38 said:


> Bummer
> 
> http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Portland/5-year-old-crushed-to-death-by-tree-in-Pownal,158678



Heard about this on the news the other day. That's a horrible accident. I do wonder if the grandfather was suppose to be watching the kids though. If he was, he really shouldn't have been doing tree work.


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## BlueRidgeMark (Nov 16, 2010)

And sometimes my wife wonders why I sometimes get so hysterical about accountability of the little ones when we are doing anything involving chainsaws and the like. She doesn't much like it when I tell her "You THINK he's *fill in the blank* isn't good enough!" I don't care if she doesn't like it. When it comes to children and dangerous work, "I think" is *not *good enough!


It only takes once....


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## joecool85 (Nov 16, 2010)

BlueRidgeMark said:


> And sometimes my wife wonders why I sometimes get so hysterical about accountability of the little ones when we are doing anything involving chainsaws and the like. She doesn't much like it when I tell her "You THINK he's *fill in the blank* isn't good enough!" I don't care if she doesn't like it. When it comes to children and dangerous work, "I think" is *not *good enough!
> 
> 
> It only takes once....



I agree entirely, except I make sure I know where everyone on the property is. OR at least isn't!


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## GoRving (Nov 16, 2010)

What a tragedy. That is a very sad situation. I've had those type tree stumps to "set-up" after the cut is made.


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## BlueRidgeMark (Nov 16, 2010)

joecool85 said:


> I agree entirely, except I make sure I know where everyone on the property is. OR at least isn't!




Believe me, I DO make sure. But once the loud and dangerous machinery is started, it's hard to watch the little ones. 


I make sure they all know where the boundaries are BEFORE anything starts, but I expect the wife & older kids to make sure they are obeyed.


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## Ductape (Nov 16, 2010)

Wow, tragic. I wonder how a person goes on after something like that. I hope everyone else in that family recovers.


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## pdqdl (Nov 16, 2010)

Didn't a very similar event happen earlier this year? Apparently, those little kids just can't resist a good hole in the ground...

I just cringe to think about how many trees I have flopped back into the hole. I never checked for little people when I started the saw.


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## cassandrasdaddy (Nov 16, 2010)

*oh man*

my heart goes out to that family.
i had one get away from me in the yard 6 months ago. the guy with me thought it was weird that i wasn't mad, but all i could do was grin since i had put my kids in the jeep with a dvd player and drove it 400 feet from the house. 
that kinda accident is my worst nightmare


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## BlueRidgeMark (Nov 17, 2010)

cassandrasdaddy said:


> ... all i could do was grin since i had put my kids in the jeep with a dvd player and drove it 400 feet from the house.





Now THAT is good thinking! 





cassandrasdaddy said:


> that kinda accident is my worst nightmare





Amen.


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## IcePick (Nov 17, 2010)

Tragic, absolutely. But why a story about some guy doing yard work when he should have been watching the kids? I don't see the point in posting this article, it's not arboricultural related.


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## pdqdl (Nov 18, 2010)

You really should have read the link. The article states "The boy’s grandfather was unaware that the child was playing near the uprooted tree when he began to cut and remove the tree."

Root balls on blown over trees are both dangerous and "arboricultural related". Dead children caused by blown over trees are "arboricultural injury related". Certainly any professional tree worker who might be inspired by this story to be more cautious while removing a blown over tree will have benefited.

Does that explain the point?


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## ray benson (Nov 18, 2010)

What a horrible, horrible preventable accident.


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## IcePick (Nov 18, 2010)

This did not happen professionally or within the industry. Perhaps I should post the story about my idiot buddy who broke his wrist falling out of a ten foot cedar. He climbed it to get on his roof to clean his gutters.


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## 371groundie (Nov 18, 2010)

i grew up the next town over from there, really hoping its no one i knew. done more than 25 trees just like that because of that storm. 

i was the kid that was always in the way. i ran to close to dad with a saw once. i didnt get hurt, didnt even get close in my 5 year old eyes. i didnt understand why dad was screamin at me. now i understand and watch out for the kids like me. 

doing a tree today i had a homeowner try to help chip brush, after telling me he had polio in one arm. i was as respectful as could be with the chipper up on screech. he took it well.


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## 2dogs (Nov 18, 2010)

Horrible! Every parent's worst nightmare.


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## woodguy105 (Nov 19, 2010)

IcePick said:


> Tragic, absolutely. But why a story about some guy doing yard work when he should have been watching the kids? I don't see the point in posting this article, it's not arboricultural related.




Lots of non pros read these threads. Everytime I read about someone elses mistake/misfortune it makes me stop and think before I work out in my woods.


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## pdqdl (Nov 19, 2010)

IcePick said:


> This did not happen professionally or within the industry. ...



The title of the forum is "Arboricultural Injuries and Fatalities". There is no mention of doing arboriculture for a living, or excluding anyone killed by a tree who was not an arborist swinging from a tree.

***************************************************************
Arboriculture (pronounced /ˈɑrbərɨkʌltʃər/), is the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants. It is both a practice and a science.
***************************************************************

You are quibbling over a silly point in a thread that does not merit any question whatsoever about it's placement; furthermore, you are wrong. 

And that is the last I have to say on the topic.


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## woodguy105 (Nov 19, 2010)

pdqdl said:


> The title of the forum is "Arboricultural Injuries and Fatalities". There is no mention of doing arboriculture for a living, or excluding anyone killed by a tree who was not an arborist swinging from a tree.
> 
> ***************************************************************
> Arboriculture (pronounced /ˈɑrbərɨkʌltʃər/), is the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants. It is both a practice and a science.
> ...



 Could not have said it better! Rep sent...:yourock:


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## BlueRidgeMark (Nov 19, 2010)

:agree2:


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## SpiralAcacia (Nov 23, 2010)

I just can't understand why it says "freak accident".
Gravity and such is never freaky.
Now IGNORING possible outcome is not freaky, too.
It's only human.
We got to be strong and keep pushing statistics to our favour, as much as possible.
Kids, supervised, out of the way. Let them cut their finger on a sharp chain - that's a good lesson. A cheap lesson.
But never near a working saw. Never near a tree being cut.
Seatbelts. Chimicals out of little hand's reach. And on and on.

Took me over a year to get my wife to understand EVERYBODY in this family drives buckled-up. She still disagrees hey, it's a working energy balance: She rather just do it than have another quarell with me.

Then there's always that glitch you weren't expecting. What can you do?
At least don't fall into that hole in the pavement that got huge yellow signs over it "DANGER!!" "HOLE IN PAVEMENT!!!" etc.

My thoughts are with the family. They have a long way to go now.

SA


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## pdqdl (Nov 23, 2010)

From a professional tree worker's perspective: this was a very predictable outcome for a child playing in the cavern created by a blown over tree. So...not a freak accident.

From a newspaper reporter's perspective: Child buried alive by a blown over tree? _FREAK ACCIDENT!_


I'm sure that the family considers it a complete nightmare, and not just "a very predictable outcome".


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## Damon (Nov 24, 2010)

I do loads of blow down work on the coast of maine mostly spruce trees that uproot, what i have discovered over time is that it pays to trig the rootball, I usually just stuff a 2x4 in there to hold it with a length of rope or chain tied to it, but occasionally ill use a smaller trunk section. This makes the trunk less apt to kick when you sever it from the root ball but also allows you to pull the let the root ball fall in a controlled manor while your watching it, i sometimes can pull the 2x4 by hand but more often just hook a comealong up and pull it out that way. 

Remember that blowdown work is some of the most dangerous work we can do, an ounce of common sense saves lives always think and look before you cut.

My condolences go out to the family of this needless tragedy hopefully we can all learn from this.

Tom


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## pdqdl (Nov 24, 2010)

I typically _want_ the rootball to fall hard back into the hole. I would not normally wish to prevent it from falling with any trip mechanism or brace.

When it works well, there is usually little to no difference from a regular tree removal without a rootball disturbance. The dirt fits right back where it was torn out, and the grade is mostly unchanged.


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## RVALUE (Nov 24, 2010)

pdqdl said:


> You really should have read the link. The article states "The boy’s grandfather was unaware that the child was playing near the uprooted tree when he began to cut and remove the tree."
> 
> Root balls on blown over trees are both dangerous and "arboricultural related". Dead children caused by blown over trees are "arboricultural injury related". Certainly any professional tree worker who might be inspired by this story to be more cautious while removing a blown over tree will have benefited.
> 
> Does that explain the point?




Right you are, on all accounts.


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## RVALUE (Nov 24, 2010)

I had two close calls with my 10 year old a couple days ago, running the bucket around the yard here. Thankful for God's hand on us!


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## Damon (Nov 25, 2010)

pdqdl said:


> I typically _want_ the rootball to fall hard back into the hole. I would not normally wish to prevent it from falling with any trip mechanism or brace.
> 
> When it works well, there is usually little to no difference from a regular tree removal without a rootball disturbance. The dirt fits right back where it was torn out, and the grade is mostly unchanged.



when you pull the trip it deffinitly falls back hard into the hole its just that you can see what your doing


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## cassandrasdaddy (Nov 25, 2010)

*so true*

*Thankful for God's hand on us! *

without it most kids wouldn't make it


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## Pioneer42 (Nov 27, 2010)

What a shame, sad to hear and read that.


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## mikefunaro (Nov 30, 2010)

cassandrasdaddy said:


> *Thankful for God's hand on us! *
> 
> without it most kids wouldn't make it



So where was he on this one? He got tied up somewhere else?? or was this kid bad?


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## SpiralAcacia (Dec 2, 2010)

mikefunaro said:


> So where was he on this one? He got tied up somewhere else?? or was this kid bad?




Hmmm. Thumbs down on this post.
Personal views on religion/atheism are cool, but expressing them this way on a thread like that -
UNCOOL, imo.

SA


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## KMB (Dec 2, 2010)

Terrible, terrible. I agree with the other fellas that make sure they know where the little ones are when running equipment, doing tree work or ANYTHING that might harm a little one. I have only 1 little one (3 yrs. old) to watch out for...and she's an armful!!! She figured out how to unlock the back door and she has tried to sneak outside to play in the yard with her rocks, sticks and dirt/mud. So I put up a chain latch on the door out of her reach. The front door is even hard for us grown-ups to open (will try to fix it someday...). We live in the country, but next to a fairly busy road. In my yard, so far, my biggest concerns for her safety are when I'm moving a vehicle, backing up a trailer, mowing, running the splitter, running my saws, using my power tools and my firewood stacks (rounds and/or splits) for stability. I am VERY protective of my li'l girl.

Kevin


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## pdqdl (Dec 12, 2010)

Not again!

READ the article, please. Not just the first line or two?


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## joecool85 (Dec 13, 2010)

pdqdl said:


> Not again!
> 
> READ the article, please. Not just the first line or two?



Uh, that was a spammer, hence why they did that. Check out the sig.


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