Ran across this and I remembered the G2G was in Canton? Wondered if you had heard about this poor guy. Too bad he hadn't had Scotty take the tree down. Fire crew did their thing... CANTON, Ohio - Firefighters used a ladder from an aerial truck on Thursday morning to rescue a man who was trapped in a pine tree behind a Canton home. Mark Bagnoli, 59, was a trimming a tree for his parents on 38th Street NW when he was seriously injured and became stuck on a partial limb about 40 feet off the ground. Captain Dan Reed, part of Technical Rescue Operations Team, said Bagnoli was hurt while trying to cut down a large chunk of the tree. "All the tree limbs were cut off and he was trying to take the top off, probably approximately a 30 foot section of the tree base, and it came down and struck him," Reed said. Reed said Bagnoli suffered a fractured leg and there was urgency to get him down as quickly as possible. "He was in a lot of pain and he looked rather pale. We were concerned he might be losing blood internally." A fire truck with a 105 foot tall ladder was positioned in the backyard and Captain Reed, along with Firefighter Eric Dyrlund, climbed the ladder and used harnesses to save Bagnoli. Firefighter J.C. Ward, who initially served as the acting captain at the scene, developed the rescue plan. "He had injuries. We had to be pretty careful to his leg and hip, so basically it was tie him off to the tree itself to make sure he was secure. He didn't have to worry about falling," Ward said. Reed and Dyrlund carefully brought Bagnoli down the ladder and he was transported to Aultman Hospital. The rescue team acknowledged it was a bizarre and challenging rescue that lasted 30 minutes, but they added firefighters never truly know what to expect when they receive a call for help. "On any given day, you never know what we're going to be into," Ward said.
Several years ago I was working in a small town just a few miles north of me… there was a local who was a cranky old bastard that was as cheap as you could get. He heated with wood and cut his own despite his advanced age. One fall day he decided he needed to cut down an 80' oak on his hobby farm… the tree was sitting right next to his cabin. Not sure how he did it but it appeared he was topping the tree when it fell on him... he was found the next day laying on the roof crushed under the tree… He was about 80 years old… should have known better.
I'm with you Jack... damm straight. Ride that 80 footer down... yeeeeeeeeee haaaaaaawwwwwwww!!!! ... I'll prolly drive my kids nuts ... that's the plan anyway ...
Count my blessings every day and pray for the safety of the working crowd. You just never know what lays ahead when you first put your feet on the floor in the morning. I have given most of my ladders away. Gave the big saw away. Kept a small one and a small ladder, but the wife is on my butt if I even mention them. I am still busted up from my last fall on the stairs in this house.
I just remembered that the guy I mentioned had used an extension ladder to crawl up on the roof, pulled the ladder up and leaned it onto the tree from his roof which was about an 8/12 pitch… then he went up the ladder to top the tree… geez. the ladder might have slipped… the tree may have hit the ladder on it's way down… who knows.
That's a true shame, let's be honest fellas, when you get older your reaction times fade a lot, and when doing risky work (like that in a tree), every split second and every critical decision counts. I hate hearing stories like these, as we all know full well, bad things happen. Swags family with his uncle last year is proof of that. I got to meet his uncle at the GTG (nice guy BTW), and he is lucky to be alive. Best to leave the really technical stuff to a pro.....they've got the experience and the know - how to take stuff down, the physics of some of those big trees is crazy. And I've said it many times before, ladders and tree removals DON'T MIX. Your just asking for catastrophe.
That is only about 15 minutes away from where the GTG was. I never heard anything about it. I can only second what was said above. Leave the technical stuff to the Pros. Period. Better to be out some cash, but be safe and live to see another day. More money can always be made. Your life can not.
