An East Devon man narrowly missed being crushed to death when a tree fell on a road near Ottery.
The tree surgeon was saved only by his ladder which kept the full pressure of the 3 ton tree off him.
The Exmouth ambulance crews and fire crews were sent to the casualty in Hayes Lane, Otterton at 12:43pm on Saturday 16 November.
The casualty was pinned under a large section of an Ash tree weighing approximately 3 tons and about 7 m in length. The tree had already fallen in previous gales the week before and was lying in a precarious position down a steep embankment.
The casualty had pitched an 8 m ladder up the bank beside the tree and embarked upon trimming the branches along the trunk. When cutting through one large branch the tree rolled over destabilising the man on his ladder and rolled over the top of him. Then pinning him by his chest to the side of the steep bank.
The ladder had been pushed under the tree supporting much of the weight and giving him some respite from the weight.
A representative of Devon and Somerset Fire Crews said although the tree seemed relatively stable in position there was still a danger of it sliding down the bank so White Watch and Retained crews from Exmouth set about securing it to other substantial trees using tirfor winches. The decision was made to support the lower end of the tree with a ladder and call the Urban Search and Rescue team to utilise their lifting equipment to support the tree whilst the casualty was extricated
USAR crews was used to lift and stabilise the tree section and the casualty was carefully slid from under the tree up the bank onto a stretcher and secured.
He was then transferred to a land ambulance with chest and shoulder injuries and conveyed to RD&E Exeter.
