Massive redwood tree falls,
kills hiker in California park
Associated Press,
by
Staff
Original Article
Posted By: MDConservative,
12/27/2019 12:13:12 PM
A huge redwood tree fell and killed a man visiting Muir Woods National Monument in California on Christmas Eve, authorities said Thursday.
Subhradeep Dutta, 28, of Edina, Minnesota, died while walking on a marked dirt trail with two other people in the park north of San Francisco famous for its towering trees, according to the Marin County coroner's office and a spokesman for the park.
Dutta was pinned by the trunk of the 200-foot-tall (61-meter-tall) tree and died at the scene. The trunk measured more than 4 feet (1 meter) in diameter.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Newtsche 12/27/2019 12:14:53 PM (No. 272372)
The bigger the tree, the better odds it hits you.
5 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
zzzghy 12/27/2019 12:38:40 PM (No. 272385)
Wrong place, wrong time.
Nature doesn't give a schiff and the universe is wildly dangerous. Settle up with that and your compass will change.
3 people like this.
Some of these trees have been around since The Crucifixion. A tree that size would probably be at least 500 years old. What were the odds indeed!
5 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
GoodDeal 12/27/2019 1:21:54 PM (No. 272419)
Probably the most unlucky man of the year. This reminds me of a man driving in his golf cart playing golf in Palm Springs last year that had a tree fall in a windy condition and hit and killed him. When it’s your time there’s nothing you can do. Rest In Peace fellas!
7 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
shamrock 12/27/2019 1:38:44 PM (No. 272439)
That's it, tree control for the safety of everyone. All trees over 6 ft. high must be turned in to the government, immediately, if you do not comply, the Arbor Day Coalition will come chainsaw it down at the owners expense.
9 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
earlybird 12/27/2019 1:45:31 PM (No. 272444)
The heavy winter storms following a number of drought years changed the odds.
“This is a very rare and isolated event that may have occurred due to wet ground from recent winter storms, around the roots of the tree,” park spokesman Charles Strickfaden said in an email.
Redwood trees have shallow root systems that extend over 100 feet from the base. They thrive in moist, coastal climates where their roots intertwine with the roots of other redwoods.
Shallow-rooted trees can become top-heavy and uproot themselves. We had a large tree across the street uproot and fall across the street and into our front yard a few years ago. Missed our bay window by inches.
6 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
GO3 12/27/2019 2:02:47 PM (No. 272452)
As a former employee of Sequoia National Park some eons ago, I can back up what the article says. The trees are the same, extremely tall and massive with small root systems compared to the size of the tree itself. We had spots to go to according to SOP when there were high winds. These were basically large, bare rock areas where we were safe from falling trees. I have a photo of one of the worker's cabins that was hit by the top of a tree which broke off as the tree fell during a wind storm. It was like a giant arrow which chopped about five feet off the end of the cabin. Fortunately, the occupant was at work otherwise he would have been a big shish-ka-bob.
5 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
DVC 12/27/2019 3:50:59 PM (No. 272517)
I have felled a lot of trees, and never anything remotely close to a 4 diam redwood, 200 ft tall.
An 60 ft tree takes about 3-4 seconds to fall. a giant redwood has to be 4-6 seconds from the crack to hitting the ground, maybe even a couple seconds more due to the huge mass.
Sometimes having your head out of your butt or your cell phone is important. Sometimes you have 4-6 seconds to live. Only needed to move about 2 and a half feet in the correct direction, too.
Sorry for the guy, but I see so many folks walking around staring at their phones or with headphones on, totally oblivious to the real world. Sometimes it is important to be able to hear, see, react and move, or you will get culled out of the gene pool. Usually not a tree, but more likely a bus or car.
A sad story, but life is filled with hazards, and sometimes we are in a reflex/reaction test that is a pass/ fail.
11 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
anniebc 12/27/2019 4:02:32 PM (No. 272526)
I know those trees are massive, but I was going to ask how long it took for the tree to fall. Thank you poster 8.
4 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Maggie2u 12/27/2019 4:59:07 PM (No. 272549)
Poster #4, how right you are. My son knows a woman who two years ago was driving on I-5 southbound towards Tacoma wa. when a tree just fell on her car. It wasn't windy or rainy the tree just fell over the freeway and trapped her. She wasn't injured but if it wasn't for another driver she would have choked to death on the gum she was chewing. The strangest things happen sometimes for no reason.
3 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
red1066 12/27/2019 5:13:30 PM (No. 272552)
What are the odds? Your walking along admiring the trees, and one of those huge things falls on you. I can understand getting hit by a branch, but the whole tree?
1 person likes this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
deauxrite 12/27/2019 5:25:46 PM (No. 272560)
Did anybody hear it?
10 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Mushroom 12/27/2019 6:16:21 PM (No. 272583)
At Yellowstone two years ago we took the Old West Dinner Cookout. The line had formed at the grill when one of the handful of trees (over 36" in diameter) came crashing down. It would have landed on the entire line of people had the pavilion (made from 8in logs) not stopped the fall. I was at a table, but my wife was a bit scuffed up. I almost became a widower that day.
Nothing that anyone could have done or foreseen, gust of high wind and it was just time for that tree.
3 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 12/27/2019 7:31:02 PM (No. 272629)
After the big huge lawsuit is won by the family of the victim, our DC elected class will no doubt demand the label:
"DANGER - Tree Falling Zone!"
be placed on all trails throughout the National Parks where anything larger than saplings exist.
Every so often in Arizona, a Saguaro cactus falls on an unsuspecting hiker... let's not forget labels on those too!
1 person likes this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Strike3 12/28/2019 1:17:38 AM (No. 272771)
He had to see that coming.
1 person likes this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
JackBurton 12/28/2019 10:54:17 AM (No. 273073)
I bet it made a sound.
0 people like this.
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