Do you know what tree is going to kill you?

[rwoods]

Minor injury, but interesting read on how the injury occurred. Sounds like something that could happen to me.

http://www.wildfirelessons.net/High...b51-d57b-ea85-9d65-59c33402381b&forceDialog=0

Ron

 

[madhatte]

Minor injury, but interesting read on how the injury occurred. Sounds like something that could happen to me.

http://www.wildfirelessons.net/High...b51-d57b-ea85-9d65-59c33402381b&forceDialog=0

Ron

Excellent and timely lesson-learned. I'll share it with the crew in the morning.

 

[ropensaddle]

Probably my family tree

 

[northmanlogging]

So about them rotten hemlocks....

Top of one tried to get me, last big one on the job, broke out of a neighboring tree.

I wasn't left standing around watching the tree go, I was 20' away and possibly screaming like a little girl.

Of course it was right next to power lines too.

 

[rwoods]

I guess there is a reason certain trees are designated as danger/hazard trees.

Glad you okay, NM. And that a few more danger trees have been downed.

Ron

 

[Woos31]

Was designated to the dumb end of a wood chipper end of last week and our 'certified pro' chainsaw, limbing, and brushing guy and an apprentice were working away making more work than necessary but that's off topic. Anyway had this large for a lodgepole tree that had snow damage at the ground so it had grown oval shaped 6-8 inches thick by 26" wide then tapered back to round at about 24" three feet up. This guy had the apprentice limb and top the tree, then he heads in to fall a 30' stem, leaning pretty hard but nothing to hit. I about had a heart attack.................and a good thing it was topped be a use this dip$hit deploys a sizzorbill flat cut only and a back cut in er and never once looked up the stem! I couldn't F-ing believe it. My first thought was holy f*ck he's gonna kill himself keeping that sorta chit up and we're all gonna see it because we're all watching out when trees are being cut along a road. It have me the creeps, this same guy cuts and sells firewood and I'm not sure how he's still alive after that display. I'm no faller by any stretch and won't claim to be, but I was taught as a timber faller's son how to not kill myself with a saw. Maybe I'm blowing that out of proportion but it fits the bill and every time he starts a saw and looks up a tree 'I' think it's his last one............

 

[Westboastfaller]

Well we lost another friend yesterday. A lot of guys here came from a company that dispersed in June and knew him very well. The guys had there share of crying last year with two fatalities in 7 months. Same guy that was first on scene (Falling partner) of the July 2015 fatality was again first on sceen two days ago. Unbelievable. One was 24yr old & this guy 26 yr old. Work was optional today. We are raising money here for "him".
I heard it was a snag top?? A guy talked to the partner that was with him but he didn't want to ask.

 

[madhatte]

Well we lost another friend yesterday.

Dang, man, hats off. Heads up, be careful and all that.

 

[HuskStihl]

I can't imagine cutting the day after being first on scene to a fatality. Takes a special sort.

 

[Woos31]

Well we lost another friend yesterday. A lot of guys here came from a company that dispersed in June and knew him very well. The guys had there share of crying last year with two fatalities in 7 months. Same guy that was first on scene (Falling partner) of the July 2015 fatality was again first on sceen two days ago. Unbelievable. One was 24yr old & this guy 26 yr old. Work was optional today. We are raising money here for "him".
I heard it was a snag top?? A guy talked to the partner that was with him but he didn't want to ask.

Can't hit like on that stuff, don't feel right. Good on you guys for puttin yer wages in for the young man. He's fallin on the big show north of the clouds now pard, bunch of Damn good guys up there teachin him too. Heck I got a loggin crew worth of kin up there with him and uncle Buzz singin the good ol logger tunes in camp every night where the beer's free, sleep is long, and yer boots don't get wet in the day. No need fer a wedge cuz, the wind don't blow, so trees wont balance on the hinge. Weather's nice, no threat uh snow an ice, the birds just sing, an ya can't even make a bee mad nuff tuh sting. I can't sing a lick ner play an instrument but that garbage sure sounds like a Buzz Martin song, wish I could a seen him cut timber and perform before he passed. My grandpa tells stories of doing such with him, he wrote the cat skinnin gypo logger sing and Buzz recorded it. In the verse talking about the guy hangin the cat on a stump was another great uncle the was my grandpa's partner in their fallin outfit which grandpa's brother, brother in law (killed while working for them) my 2 uncle's and my dad.

 

[Westboastfaller]

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...645599572&set=a.433642754572.215963.645599572
Celebration of life will be for Ian Lawson
tomorrow. Ian was taken last Sunday on the hill, north west on Vancouver island. I just heard the plane come in to fly some of his friends/co-workers down coast.

This link will take you through his FB. I picked that pic because he looked so young and new. Like him and many others, you grow up quickly into a man.
Ian was just 23.
Click on his profile page and the pic above was his good friend Dustin falling the big tree. Dustin was predeceased in July of last year. I was to partner up with a young guy here yesterday but weather changed the plans. all three broke in together in 2013.

 

[1270d]

Has it been a bad stretch or are fatalities a regularity that we uninitiated don't often hear of? @Westboastfaller

 

[Woos31]

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...645599572&set=a.433642754572.215963.645599572
Celebration of life will be for Ian Lawson
tomorrow. Ian was taken last Sunday on the hill, north west on Vancouver island. I just heard the plane come in to fly some of his friends/co-workers down coast.

This link will take you through his FB. I picked that pic because he looked so young and new. Like him and many others, you grow up quickly into a man.
Ian was just 23.
Click on his profile page and the pic above was his good friend Dustin falling the big tree. Dustin was predeceased in July of last year. I was to partner up with a young guy here yesterday but weather changed the plans. all three broke in together in 2013.

Geez he does look a young man in that photo. Rest easy Mr Lawson

 

[Westboastfaller]

Has it been a bad stretch or are fatalities a regularity that we uninitiated don't often hear of? @Westboastfaller

IDK, There was a big spike in July 2015 of four coast fallers fatalities.
but no other fallers died that year. The total in the loggers sector was 5 0nly by year end. In 2005 there was 43 deaths in industry and from '95 to '05 there was an average of 32. In 2014 was the lowest ever at 3 , 2 being fallers. 2011 & 12 , 10 & 11 fatalities over all. 2006 & 7 not one faller was killed in BC. I believe we are at about 8 fatalities per year from 2008 - present in the logging sec. Perhaps, maybe 4-5 fallers per year. If it wasn't for the Internet then you wouldn't here about them or work as or know a coast faller then noboby will hear about it on BCTV News either.
One case last july was a very high profile case because it involved a fire just of Vancouver lower mainland. Another one a super snorkel of a major licensee uprooted a large tree behind a fallers back. Noboby ever heard about that.

 

[Woos31]

IDK, There was a big spike in July 2015 of four coast fallers fatalities.
but no other fallers died that year. The total in the loggers sector was 5 0nly by year end. In 2005 there was 43 deaths in industry and from '95 to '05 there was an average of 32. In 2014 was the lowest ever at 3 , 2 been fallers. 2011 & 12 , 10 & 11 fatalities over all. 2006 & 7 not one faller was killed in BC. I believe we are at about 8 fatalities per year from 2008 - present in the logging sec. Perhaps, maybe 4-5 fallers per year. If it wasn't for the Internet then you wouldn't here about them or work as or know a coast faller then noboby will hear about it on BCTV News either.
One case last july was a very high profile case because it involved a fire just of Vancouver lower mainland. Another one a super snorkel of a major licensee uprooted a large tree behind a fallers back. Noboby ever heard about that.

Yeah I hear ya on the certain ones the news is all over and others are husha husha depending on circumstances.

 

[Westboastfaller]

Here is my healthy respect on "threading the needle" (falling through a close canopy) more specifically, white wood snags was and is the topic. This section is from a post on Aug 14 on pg 565 in "Falling Pictures"

"when you stand in some of this terrain here you have to THINK LIKE you are cemented in concrete because that's the way it feels. GETTING AWAY from a large falling top at times seems like BAD ODDS. You don't even have
to be wedging white snags to get it from a top"

Ian lost his life taking a white wood snag prematurely opposed to progressively.
Sadly , he knew what tree,^^^^

 

[madhatte]

I freakin' hate snags.

 

[Westboastfaller]

Faller killed by uprooted tree on B.C. coast

February 14, 2017

By Tamar Atik

Feb. 14, 2017 - A logger killed in the Woods Lagoon area of B.C. on Feb. 4 was the first harvesting fatality of 2017, according to the BC Forest Safety Council.

The faller was struck by a tree, uphill from where he was working.

"Our condolences go out to the family and co-workers of the deceased," BC Forest Safety said in a statement.

The council released the following safety information as a precaution to others:

1. Red and yellow cedars in rocky areas with shallow or wet soils are likely to be unstable. Cedars naturally have shallow roots and other characteristic hazards. A list of hazards for the common tree species is below or on page 2 of this alert.
   
2. Weather conditions can cause significant changes in ground conditions. Heavy rainfall can reduce soil strength which causes landslides and tree instability. Frequent freeze and thaw cycles can create ground instability and rockfall.
   
3. Overhead hazards are difficult to see and are often a cause of falling incidents. Take the time to assess the tree and look for hazards like limb tied trees and dead tops or branches.
   
4. Many falling incidents are the result of chain reactions. The tree being felled can cause unexpected movement in nearby trees, logs, rootwads or rocks. As part of the hazard assessment, anticipate what chain reactions may occur.

The fatality is currently under investigation by WorkSafeBC and the Coroners Service.

~like you said Donny.
"I'll see you on the next one"

 

[bnmc98]

So sad to hear about the fatalities.
I had a close call the other day. There is a difference in my mind when it comes to focus. Sometimes it takes a lot of energy to stay focused to be safe. Probably what tires me out the most. I find it much easier in the big stuff to stay focused on what I am doing. You're at the tree longer and can pay attention to what you are dong more. When it comes to smaller stuff, I move fast... sometimes its just a rhythm, and when paid by production, I want them down. I find it harder to focus intently, and move fast at the same time. That being said, I was cutting some smaller fir on a ridge top, I was struggling with one trying to swing it and blipped the throttle too much. In an effort to get it down I was not paying attention. cut most of the holding wood off. Luckily I saw strange movement and noticed the top was coming over me. I had just enough time to scramble to the uphill side as it came over right where I was cutting.

Complacency like mine, was probably not at fault for the fatalities. But they are healthy but sad reminders to get your game on.

I have a collection of events in logging that I know it is only by God's grace that I am still here.
Most of them on the saw.

 

[Westboastfaller]

Sometimes it takes a lot of energy to stay focused to be safe. Probably what tires me out the most.

It's a very mentality exausting job.
Mostly people think of the phisical fatigue. I've said it before and I'll say it again. "It's the mental fatigue is the reason why we work 6 hours on the saw.

So sad to hear about the fatalities.

I find it much easier in the big stuff to stay focused on what I am doing. You're at the tree longer and can pay attention to what you are dong more. When it comes to smaller stuff, I move fast... sometimes its just a rhythm, and when paid by production, I want them down. I find it harder to focus intently, and move fast at the same time.

You are right but the norm is different to me. I have tention deficit as well I have hyper active disorder. my sugar spikes and so do my trees...haha. I'm generaly a mess in my life. If I don't run Hi-Ball...I can't consentrate. I am very defensive...I am a reactive guy! I'm probably one of the top guys for making bad mistakes on here. That's simply because I have more handle bar hours than most. thats a fact.

I'm going to peace out Bro.

I have more to add to your post.
I will share some good stories on the hill with Donny and I.
I did post some pics on here with him standing on a heli pad we built in June.
.....just can't find then yet.
What a awesome guy! Everbody loved Donny!/

Thnk you

Jamie