tree accident, I was there.
My name is Shane. I have been a tree climber for the last fourteen years. I have seen numerous accidents in my career, most of which were the victims own fault. Short cutting, horse play and pure negligence have always been to blame.
This was not the case however for the accident that I will describe.
In 1997 I took a journeyman climber position for Asplundh Tree Experts. Aspundh in case you don't know is a multi-million dollar company that specializes in electrical line clearance for big money power and light contracts.
I had been on my new crew's roster three days when we were called to an emergency tree removal. I was happy to be given the oppurtunity to "show my stuff". My new foreman, who had been with the company a long time was excited as well for the oppurtunity to show his tree savvy to the higher ups.
We showed up and looked at the tree to be removed. It was a dead, dead, dead American Elm tree. Not too big, about sixty feet at the top of the crown. At first glance both of us saw no problem with the removal. Then I noticed some bark peeling off. I pulled the bark and a sheet about six feet long fell off the trunk.
I pointed the bark out to my foreman and he agreed that the tree was "possibly" too dangerous to climb. The general foreman, who had little actual tree climbing experience, suggested we be careful. My foreman pointed out that there was a place for a bucket truck to get in. The bucket truck idea was shot down. The gist of the conversation as I understood it was: If you can't handle it, I'll give it to a crew that can.
Against our better judgement we took the job. I climbed up first and tied in at about fifty feet. I set my foreman's rope in a secure crotch and he also entered the tree. The idea was that we could assist each other with roping the limbs that were hanging over the primary power line and the service line to the P&L customers house. In our opionion the sooner we got it done with the better.
I had already taken the top out of the branches over the service line when my foreman started to maneuver into position to rope a main lead from over the primary electrical line. He secured his taut line hitch around a main lead approximately a foot in diameter.
Being that the tree was so dead and roping options were very limited, the foreman was forced to cut the branch smaller to avoid contact with the electrical wire. It is strict Asplundh company policy that the only equipment used is issued by the company. With all of the company rhetoric and boasting about "safety first", it's amusing that they supply the climbers with the bare minimum and lowest quality of equipment allowed by OSHA.
Anyway due to a lack of extra ropes or lanyards to secure himself to another lead, the foreman shimmied out on the branch about forty feet off the ground, parallel to his tie in. Our logic was that if the limb he was on gave way, that the main lead he was tied into would hold his fall.
He reached the point where he needed to cut and wrapped his lanyard around the limb to increase his balance. He was in the process of setting the pull rope when I heard the snap.
The enitre lead snapped off ten feet below his tie in. I yelled, "Hang on!" That's exactly what my formen did. He rode the limb down through the air and landed on the power line, snapping it in two. I watched as he slammed into a large lilac bush and disappeared into the bush.
I rappelled down as fast as possible and saw that the electrical line was inside the bush with the foreman. I heard no noise and assumed he was either dead or unconscious. I weighed the danger of getting shocked and decided that the foreman could very likely be in a life threatening situation. I saw his orange shirt and heaved him out of the bush. As I grabbed him he awoke from being knocked out and staggered to his feet in horror. No ****, horror.
The groundman had already called 911 and the general foreman. I did what I could to calm him and waited for the ambulance.
Here's where it gets screwed up. First to show up was our union representative and fellow climber who had been in the area. Second was the general foreman, looking like he just ate a **** sandwich, and third. No lie. Asplundh's corporate attorneys. AKA: Spin doctors. The ambulance arrived at the same time and rushed in.
While the formen lay on the ground numb, the paramedics asked him and I questions to evaluate the extent of his injuries. Adrenaline had taken over any of my defensive thoughts or emotions. I hadn't even thought of blame or why it had happened.
About that time the younger of the two attorneys asked me where he was tied in. I had no idea who they were, I assumed they were from power and light. I honestly told them that he was properly tied in and hadn't done anything wrong. I saw the two look at each other and for some reason knew I should stay on my guard. The union rep who had been on the side castrating the general foreman saw the two suits questioning me and came to my rescue.
The foreman was escorted away and I stayed for questioning with the union rep and the rest of the parties who might feel legally in danger.
The company supervisor repeatedly tried to create scenarios that he was sure had happened to try and get me to change my story. It wasn't unitl I said that both the foreman and I had verbally requested that the the tree not be climbed, that the suits decided to drop the subject.
The foreman suffered a broken rotator cup and mild concussion. He refused union legal advice and opted to go back to work two days after the doctor cleared his shoulder.
He tried to climb but was never the same. He couldn't climb more than fifteen feet without freezing up. The company gave him a bucket truck and as far as I know he's still with them today.
Today I run my own tree company in Canada. I have never underestimated the the experience I learned from working at Asplundh. Modern technolgy has been developed to make our lives easier and safer. Just because loggers used to take Redwoods down with crosscuts, doesn't mean it's the best way. Many of the "New" techniques for tree felling and roping are a bit overkill, but there are some very nifty devices out there that not only lessen the odds of an accident but provide "one more option". Isn't that what makes a good tree climber. Options.
