trimmer dies in Los Angeles

[Arbutus]

Man, 30, Dies While Trimming Palm Tree

April 13, 2006
A 30-year-old man died while trimming a palm tree Wednesday, possibly the victim of a falling branch or an asphyxiating cloud of pollen, authorities said. Firefighters said the worker died in his harness high in the tree at 3854 Hammel St. shortly after 4...

got this from the LA Times, couldn't get all of it without registering...this is somewhat common on people climbing palms with many years of growth....sad

 

[greg carr]

Being from the North East I've never had to prune a palm, is there that much pollen in them that you can suffocate from it? I thought maples were bad.

 

[Bermie]

The palms here wouldn't have that much pollen, who's to say what kind of palm it was, but what may be possible, an old Washingtonia with years of dead fronds, when you start cutting into that, it's full of dust and dirt, maybe he got a gobful of that??? It's all speculation.
Whatever, thats a nasty way to go.

 

[clearance]

Man, 30, Dies While Trimming Palm Tree

April 13, 2006
possibly the victim of a falling branch or an asphyxiating cloud of pollen,

Well, what was it?, before everyone goes of half-cocked, what went down here, facts please.

 

[Arbutus]

Re: Palms

Greg,
I'm not 100% sure what happened, but I've always heard that climbing palms with full "skirts" is very dangerous. This happens mainly on palms (washingtonia palms around here) with many years of growth (which can be up to entire length of trunk) not being pruned off. The trimmer starts pruning from the bottom and in the process of removing the old fronds, it triggers the entire length or many additional years of growth to loosen and come down on the climber. This could be many hundreds of pounds and could literally suffocate the climber. Not sure what happened here or the reference to pollen...but I guess it is a possibility. Maybe someone else has more experience or knowledge on the matter?

 

[Koa Man]

Hard to tell what happened unless we know the species the poor guy was trimming. I have trimmed thousands of palms, and I hate every one of them. I would like to trim each one at ground level and finish it with a stump grinder. The most enjoyable work I do in the tree business is when I can kill a palm.

Did I say I hate palms??

 

[xtremetrees]

I tell ya I have to agree with Koa I hate them too. I am so fortunate that my trees have been so forgiving to me. If I was to climb more palms I'd be prepared. I'd have me a rope threaded thru a fig. 8 and a carabiner already attached so I wouldnt have to tie a bowlan if I cut into a bees nest. Just clip my biner around the tree and zip down. Wait I siad I wasnt gonna spike palms.More than likely the bees are already on the ground waiting for you there too.