4th gen crushed by tree in California, with man sleeping in the back...

Not sure if this is why you don't sleep in the back... or why you do...

Looks like a 4th gen.

Near Shelter Cove, California... on BLM land in the King Range area.

https://kymkemp.com/2022/12/28/resc...rt-of-dozens-of-people-and-multiple-agencies/



At least six agencies and dozens of emergency personnel worked for hours to free a man trapped overnight after a large tree fell on the SUV he was sleeping in at a campground off of Chemise Mountain Road near Whale Gulch in Humboldt County late Monday, December 26.

According to Whale Gulch firefighter, Leif Larson, “I have been with the department 30 years. This one was one of the most complex events I’ve been involved with…It was really complex to get him out safely without compromising him more.”

The patient had been sleeping in the back of his SUV when a large tree with a base estimated to be five to six feet in diameter fell in the storm roughly about 10 p.m.

According to Larson, the victim of the tree fall was very organized which helped save him as there was no regular phone service where he was. “He was kind of a gearhead,” the firefighter told us. He explained that the man had a GPS that was able to text via satellite and basically send out an SOS signal. In the relatively remote campsite without that high tech access to emergency assistance, Larson explained, “it could have been another six hours before someone found him.”

For reasons unknown to us at this time (possibly the victim was unable to send for several hours), word of the victim’s situation didn’t get relayed to local volunteer firefighters until about 5 a.m. on Tuesday, December 27. Then, firefighters had to struggle through downed trees from a fierce storm that had left thousands in Humboldt County without power to get to where the man was trapped under the very large tree in his vehicle. “We had resources having trouble getting there,” Larson explained. The Whale Gulch fire station was blocked in and firefighters had to use their own vehicles and some of their own personal equipment like chainsaws to cut through storm debris to reach the accident site.

Larson explained that when emergency personnel arrived they could see that the tree had slammed into the rear of the vehicle forcing the rear tires into the soft mud and elevating the front tires of the SUV up into the air. “He was in the back seat,” Larson told us. “The tree just pinned him. It is miraculous that he sustained as little damage as he did.”

A number of agencies responded to help–Whale Gulch Fire, Shelter Cove Fire, Briceland Fire, Redway Fire, BLM, SoHum Technical Rescue, an ambulance, and Cal Fire–and eventually an inmate crew responded to help remove debris.

Eventually, Larson said, “I think we had between 40 and 50 personnel on scene and entire inmate crew. and multiple resources…” including a backhoe from RID [Shelter Cove’s Resort Improvement District.] “Redway brought their air extrication equipment.”

A plan of rescue was made. Larson explained, “First, we had to stabilize the car because the whole nose was up in the air. [The tree] flattened the back.”

Larson said that emergency personnel “had to dig under the tree” and install specialized jacks that filled with air and exerted pressure from underneath the vehicle and the car. Once they had the car stabilized, “we had to simultaneously cut the tree and inflate the jacks,” He told us. “We essentially cut a roughly 15 to 20 foot long section that was on top of the car…We had multiple saw teams working from both sides of the tree and air jacks under the tree. We also had patient care being implemented.”

“We had the backhoe from RID assist the crews,” Larson told us. It was chained to the log and helped keep the heavy piece from moving except where the crews wanted it to go.

Meanwhile, they had an extrication team that was cutting off the top of the 4Runner off to gain better access to the patient. While all this was going on, Larson said, “We had the patient care team communicating with the saw teams. If any extra pressure was put on the patient, it could be life or death. So the communication was critically important.”

Larson explained almost reverently that “each one of those teams was critical.”

He went on, “We removed the 15 to 20 feet section [of the tree]…The car was so pancaked, we had to cut the remaining parts of the vehicle off the patient…The whole process took us roughly three and a half to four hours at least.”

After the patient had been removed from the SUV, a ground ambulance took the patient to Shelter Cove airport after 9 a.m. A Coast Guard helicopter and crew met them there and medevacked the man to the hospital.

Miraculously, Larson said, when the tree and the car roof were peeled away, the man didn’t look to be as seriously hurt as was at first feared. (We believe that the man did go into surgery after he was taken to the hospital, but that has not been officially confirmed.)

Larson marveled at the number of people and agencies involved with “the multiple components of the rescue.” But, he added, “We have really good people here..our volunteers are the backbone of this community.”

NOTE: Please consider sending a donation check to Whale Gulch Fire Department–the next person they save may be you or someone you love.

WHALE GULCH FIRE
76850B Usal Road
Whitethorn, CA 95589

In the comment section is a list of local volunteer fire departments, several of whom were involved in this rescue. Please consider helping those you can.

 

Sounds like this story will be told a few times. Great coordination among the rescuers and a fine outcome!

 

If he would have been sleeping in a tent he would not be alive! Also a great case for the emergency beacons that have been a life saver for so many.

 

Or he could have cut himself out of his tent with a pocket knife. I prefer the 4runner because maybe it would protect from falling limbs, but something like this gargantuan log…not a chance. He didnt get instantly squashed because of where the tree fell, not because of the 4runner.

 

He was very lucky he was sleeping in the rear seat and not the cargo area.

 

According to Larson, the victim of the tree fall was very organized which helped save him as there was no regular phone service where he was. “He was kind of a gearhead,” the firefighter told us.

Gearhead lol. Translation: they found 43 linear feet of MOLLE panels in the wreckage.

 

I'm with @McSpazatron here. I like to think I'd be safer in the 4runner than in a tent if a branch, or even a small tree fell. In this case, he's just lucky he wasn't in the cargo area, as @trlhiker mentioned.

 

Ok, then fer sure that’s what saved him. Lol

 

Damn trees

 

Damn... he is very fortunate to be alive!

No matter how hard you try to be prepared, somethings you just can't prepare for. If it's your time, it will happen. Lucky for him, he lives another day. Stay safe and spend time with your loved ones peeps!

 

Why is no one concerned about the loss of a 4th gen?

Oh yeah, because they ugly.

 

They not ugly - just misunderstood. I miss mine

 

To soon. Have you no respect for the recently squashed? Poor thing isnt even fit for spare parts.

 

This shows the value of having a satellite communicator.