Removing trees that others were hurt in

[Mark Chisholm]

I'm currently waiting to begin removing a tree where a homeowner was killed pruning it and it got me thinking about all of the trees I've finished in the past where others had issues. It's a heavy feeling today that I don't take lightly. I've done this before and it was a little eerie as well. I'm wondering how many of you have done similar in your area.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Never had to

A somber day for sure

 

[RogerM]

The worst I have done is more of a "could have" scenario....
Basically it was a sit back with steel wedges and crow bars and a chainsaw stuck in a tree. wide, decurrent crown.
Glad the home owner stopped....
The job you are describing, I'd imagine, would be a tough day, even if the job itself wasn't.
Hardest day of my career was cabling a tree after watching 911 unfold in the customers living room. Why we continued that day, I don't now.. probably shock.
Your doing that family a favor, helping provide some closure. good on you.

 

[Friedrich]

i‘m glad i never had to finish someones project who died in/at the tree. but multiple times where someone seriously hurt themselves. not a good feeling.

 

[evo]

I'm currently waiting to begin removing a tree where a homeowner was killed pruning it and it got me thinking about all of the trees I've finished in the past where others had issues. It's a heavy feeling today that I don't take lightly. I've done this before and it was a little eerie as well. I'm wondering how many of you have done similar in your area.

Yeah one of the worst was the ole lineman next door attempted to do a cat rescue, his flip line belt broke killing him. We took the tree down.
I still get a huge energy drop driving near the street where Bobby died. That was a 30’ hemlock that failed at the base when he took a little top.
I’ll never forget cleaning up and moving the equipment, washing the blood off the pavement.

 

[Jonny]

No, but another climber on an old crew took care of a tree that I almost lost my life in.
Got zapped by a primary, indirectly through a little willow epicormic sprout. That sucked, I couldn’t let go, I was just sort of stuck there for a few seconds humming and buzzing. Felt like forever, but was a few seconds. Took a lot of conscious effort to bring my right arm across to smack my left arm and break the contact. I came down around 8:30 am and went home, I’d never felt like I needed hugs and kisses and loving from my family as much as I did then. There was plenty of work in the same neighborhood so I didn’t ruin the day for the crew and boss.
Came back a few weeks later, power company had put some big rubber boots/ covers on the wires to negate some risk of that happening again. The senior climber/ foreman asked if I wanted to kill it, and I chickened out. It wasn’t particularly difficult, I was just spooked.

 

[Mick Dempsey!]

No, but another climber on an old crew took care of a tree that I almost lost my life in.
Got zapped by a primary, indirectly through a little willow epicormic sprout. That sucked, I couldn’t let go, I was just sort of stuck there for a few seconds humming and buzzing. Felt like forever, but was a few seconds. Took a lot of conscious effort to bring my right arm across to smack my left arm and break the contact. I came down around 8:30 am and went home, I’d never felt like I needed hugs and kisses and loving from my family as much as I did then. There was plenty of work in the same neighborhood so I didn’t ruin the day for the crew and boss.
Came back a few weeks later, power company had put some big rubber boots/ covers on the wires to negate some risk of that happening again. The senior climber/ foreman asked if I wanted to kill it, and I chickened out. It wasn’t particularly difficult, I was just spooked.

Electric lines scare me more than anything in this job.

Glad you were unharmed.

 

[Crimsonking]

I had to finish a tree that a coworker was hurt in. There was still blood in and around the tree. Thankfully he was okay, so it wasn’t as creepy as what some of you have experienced. Still a sober experience.

 

[cory]

It is a spooky feeling finishing a tree that someone else didn't finish due to injury. I did it one time. Spooky. Maybe unnecessarily so.

 

[oldoakman]

Interesting coincidence here. On April 6th we had an EF1 tornado hit one of our municipal golf courses where a father and son got caught out on the course. They were trying to make it back to the clubhouse and were about 75 yards from it when a 20" pine snapped and crushed their cart killing both instantly. Our crews and a contractor are working the clean up but it isn't like regular storm work.

 

[Mark Chisholm]

i‘m glad i never had to finish someones project who died in/at the tree. but multiple times where someone seriously hurt themselves. not a good feeling.

 

[Mark Chisholm]

100%

 

[Mark Chisholm]

Yeah one of the worst was the ole lineman next door attempted to do a cat rescue, his flip line belt broke killing him. We took the tree down.
I still get a huge energy drop driving near the street where Bobby died. That was a 30’ hemlock that failed at the base when he took a little top.
I’ll never forget cleaning up and moving the equipment, washing the blood off the pavement.

That's tough to deal with for sure. I've finished 2 trees (that I know of) where someone lost their life trying to remove it. Always hits me in a certain way. I never feel I'm at risk, but I do think about the individual before, during and after the removal.

 

[Mark Chisholm]

No, but another climber on an old crew took care of a tree that I almost lost my life in.
Got zapped by a primary, indirectly through a little willow epicormic sprout. That sucked, I couldn’t let go, I was just sort of stuck there for a few seconds humming and buzzing. Felt like forever, but was a few seconds. Took a lot of conscious effort to bring my right arm across to smack my left arm and break the contact. I came down around 8:30 am and went home, I’d never felt like I needed hugs and kisses and loving from my family as much as I did then. There was plenty of work in the same neighborhood so I didn’t ruin the day for the crew and boss.
Came back a few weeks later, power company had put some big rubber boots/ covers on the wires to negate some risk of that happening again. The senior climber/ foreman asked if I wanted to kill it, and I chickened out. It wasn’t particularly difficult, I was just spooked.

Glad you got a 2nd chance!

 

[Mark Chisholm]

Interesting coincidence here. On April 6th we had an EF1 tornado hit one of our municipal golf courses where a father and son got caught out on the course. They were trying to make it back to the clubhouse and were about 75 yards from it when a 20" pine snapped and crushed their cart killing both instantly. Our crews and a contractor are working the clean up but it isn't like regular storm work.

That's a terrible story to have to tell. I can't really imagine the amount of things that had to align for the incident to happen with that outcome. Sad stuff.

 

[Njdelaney]

I've never had this experience with a tree, but I have had something that is along these lines. My best friend was killed on his motorcycle late one night riding around too fast on surface roads. 1000cc sportbike, no perception of danger, total thrill-seeker personality. He was a larger than life person in both stature and personality and it was sobering to see him killed doing something he loved so much and being seemingly invincible. He was cut nearly in half by a road sign and I had to take his wife and daughter to the hospital to see the body in the middle of the night. His family wanted me to have his bike because it was one of his favorite things, and they no longer wanted anything to do with it. I put it back together and turned it into a track bike and did lots of track days and some races on it. For me it was always a combination of feeling like I wanted to beat that bike for him and the thrill that such a machine can produce, and a somber, scary feeling about how real and present the danger always was while riding it. A very love/hate relationship. I eventually had to move on from racing and track days because it is not a poor man's sport and I was a poor man, so I disassembled the bike and parted it out so it couldn't hurt anyone else. There was always a dark undertone to all my time with that bike after he died. Different context but a similar experience I think.

 

[cerviarborist]

I couldn't help but note an undercurrent in this thread, something I've encountered in my own practice. Somebody takes ill-conceived action in a tree which results in their demise, and suddenly the tree must be removed.

If the decedent was in the process of removing it, by all means, engage a competent technician to complete that task in the name of public safety. If, however the intent of the deceased was not the removal of the tree, why do their grieving families often insist that the tree must also die. Should the unfortunate death of a loved one be commemorated by killing another organism, which was completely without blame, and which manifested no malice? I fail to see the morality in this, and I think that, as providers of tree care, we may have a duty of care to at least give an alternate perspective, and perhaps avoid a needless second death. Pragmatically, the hole in the hearts of their family, will not be filled by an empty space on their property where there once was a tree.

In once instance I know of, a troubled youth hanged themselves in a tree on family property in a municipality. In another, a fatal collision occurred when a speeding driver lost control of their vehicle and crashed into a city tree. In the first case, the family insisted on removing the tree and the city gave them a permit, no questions asked. In the second case, I opined that, although significantly damaged by both impact and fire, the tree would likely recover. The city arborist was skeptical, but decided to let the tree remain. Thirteen years later, the tree stands with hardly any remaining evidence of the original damage, and society as a whole, seems not to be any worse off because the tree is still living and growing.

People in anguish will often make impulsive and rash responses, just to feel as though they have taken some kind of action. I think as professionals, though we should at least look for opportunities to gently engage with bereaved tree owners in situations like this and to present an alternative to "a life, for a life", where the second life is a non combatant tree.

 

[evo]

I couldn't help but note an undercurrent in this thread, something I've encountered in my own practice. Somebody takes ill-conceived action in a tree which results in their demise, and suddenly the tree must be removed.

If the decedent was in the process of removing it, by all means, engage a competent technician to complete that task in the name of public safety. If, however the intent of the deceased was not the removal of the tree, why do their grieving families often insist that the tree must also die. Should the unfortunate death of a loved one be commemorated by killing another organism, which was completely without blame, and which manifested no malice? I fail to see the morality in this, and I think that, as providers of tree care, we may have a duty of care to at least give an alternate perspective, and perhaps avoid a needless second death. Pragmatically, the hole in the hearts of their family, will not be filled by an empty space on their property where there once was a tree.

In once instance I know of, a troubled youth hanged themselves in a tree on family property in a municipality. In another, a fatal collision occurred when a speeding driver lost control of their vehicle and crashed into a city tree. In the first case, the family insisted on removing the tree and the city gave them a permit, no questions asked. In the second case, I opined that, although significantly damaged by both impact and fire, the tree would likely recover. The city arborist was skeptical, but decided to let the tree remain. Thirteen years later, the tree stands with hardly any remaining evidence of the original damage, and society as a whole, seems not to be any worse off because the tree is still living and growing.

People in anguish will often make impulsive and rash responses, just to feel as though they have taken some kind of action. I think as professionals, though we should at least look for opportunities to gently engage with bereaved tree owners in situations like this and to present an alternative to "a life, for a life", where the second life is a non combatant tree.

I’ve noted the same. I’ll have to double check but a co dom conifer top split out, killed my friends daughter and broke his neck. I ‘think’ the tree is still there.
With Bobby’s tree, it was a removal and when he took the top it failed at the root crown
The lineman/cat tree, it spawned a closer look at the tree which had defects, that while could have been managed honestly were pretty typical of ‘look rot’ ‘ok cut it down’

Saying that how many die on prune jobs vs removals? I’d guess it’s way more common for removals, just a guess but it can skew the data.
Not arguing as folks shun death and like to erase the memory of it.

 

[RogerM]

I believe that people grieve differently. Each case should take that into consideration...

 

[Dan Thornton]

I finished a tree once, not after the end of a life, but the end of a career. A helicopter flew overhead and I went to see what was happening. It was a life flight, landing in a cul-de-sac down the hill from my house. I watched while neighbors gathered to see what was happening. One told me that an arborist had been injured working on a tree five houses away from mine. He had many near-fatal injuries. Trees were still just a hobby for me, hadn't started a business yet, but I went to see the site of the accident. A few days later I offered to finish taking down the tree. He had tried to take a 12' top off a short (36') squat white pine tree. The cut was 14" in diameter. But he hadn't removed any of the limbs below or above the cut, and the top came over on top of him while he was tied in with a lanyard. At first my feelings were just curious - what had happened - why - what was he thinking? Then as I got to work, it was a feeling of following the steps I had been learning, not taking shortcuts. I felt hyper-aware of what might go wrong.