Tree worker killed in palm tree

[Climbing mike]

I saw this on cnn. Tree worker dies from fallen palm branches.

http://www.kpho.com/news/19157337/detail.html

Mike

 

[mga]

Oetinger said this sort of incident is a common occurrence, and fire crews make it a point to train for it.

wow.

 

[tree md]

Prayers to the family.

I am not familiar with palm trees. I've never climbed or worked on one. This is a common occurrence? That's how the news made it sound. What happens, does a frond peel over like a top splitting out of a regular tree? Is there no way to safeguard against this?

 

[tomtrees58]

you read about this from time to time still sad tom trees

 

[Bermie]

Prayers to the family.

I am not familiar with palm trees. I've never climbed or worked on one. This is a common occurrence? That's how the news made it sound. What happens, does a frond peel over like a top splitting out of a regular tree? Is there no way to safeguard against this?

Usually its the type of palms that retain the old fronds in a 'skirt' or 'petticoat' below the live crown. There can be years of accumulation. Then one day someone wants them taken off, the real old ones are starting to fall, or its a fire hazard, or just plain ugly.
If the climber starts to remove the fronds from the bottom, once a few are gone it can release the WHOLE lot and the skirt collapses, sliding down the trunk.
If a climber is on spikes and lanyarded in around the trunk, that mess gets stuck in between him and the trunk, it can either crush or smother him. It can be quick or painfully slow. Those old fronds are dusty, dirty and full of crap and bugs and rats and can weigh a ton.
Not a nice way to go...
The safeguard is to use a high lift, or set a rope over the top of the crown and SRT, then work from the top of the skirt towards the bottom.

 

[Slvrmple72]

That is unfortunate. Now I see why the tree catalogs advertise with a picture of climber on a rope that goes over the top of the palm tree.

 

[davido]

Vegas

This also just happened in Las Vegas a few days ago. This time of year is a great time to work on the palms and a lot of "laborers" invest in a set of spikes and climb up under the frond skirt. There are ways to tell if the skirt is safe but I like to rely on the "three years growth" rule. more than three years since pruned, don't climb under the skirt.

 

[outofmytree]

Until recently I always cleaned cotton palms (Washingtonia robusta) from underneath. I was switched on to srt ascent then drt from a pulley after discussing just such an accident. I can honestly say that after just a few practise runs I can now clean a 10m(30 ft) skirt from a cotton palm in less than half the time it used to take. So it's not only safer but quicker too. Definately the right way to go.

 

[outofmytree]

This also just happened in Las Vegas a few days ago. This time of year is a great time to work on the palms and a lot of "laborers" invest in a set of spikes and climb up under the frond skirt. There are ways to tell if the skirt is safe but I like to rely on the "three years growth" rule. more than three years since pruned, don't climb under the skirt.

In Australia the standard is any more than 3m (9ft) of old growth must be removed from the top down. Of course there are always people prepared to cut corners for a buck....