EVERETT – A 60-year-old woman died Thursday after a chunk of wood struck her on the head while a tree-cutting crew was working in the Silver Firs neighborhood.
Workers were removing a tree on Puget Park Drive, behind the woman’s house in the 14300 block of 51st Avenue SE. The woman came out of her house about 10:40 a.m. and climbed a small set of stairs to where the crew was working.
Crew members for Jeffries Robert Logging and Tree Service in Everett warned the woman to get back, but a small log about 15 inches long and 8 inches wide fell about 40 feet from the treetop and struck her, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Rich Niebusch said.
The woman was rushed to Providence Everett Medical Center’s Colby Campus. She died about 2:40 p.m.
The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office did not release the woman’s name on Thursday.
Sheriff’s detectives believe the incident was an accident, Niebusch said.
The Silver Firs Phase II Homeowner’s Association has been paying to have trees trimmed and removed during the past year, said Denice Larson, the woman’s next-door neighbor.
The tree behind their homes was tagged to be cut about two weeks ago, Larson said.
Members of the homeowner association governing board either did not want to comment or referred calls to their management company, Seattle-based CWD Group Inc.
Officials from CWD Group did not return phone calls.
Larson was at home Thursday morning. She had locked her dogs in the house about 10 a.m. because they were barking at the workers. She didn’t see the accident happen, but she heard the commotion.
“All I saw was them putting someone into an aid car on a gurney,” she said. “I thought it was an employee. I’m surprised my neighbor went out there.”
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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