Tree Trimmer Breaks Leg In Freak Crane Accident In Haddonfield
By Steve Beck, Jenn Bernstein
HADDONFIELD, N.J. (CBS) – A tree trimmer broke his leg in a freak crane accident in Camden County Thursday morning.
The incident happened at about 11 a.m. outside a home in the 500 block of Woodland Avenue in Haddonfield, New Jersey.
According to investigators, a large crane, from J.L. Dobbs Crane Company, was parked out front of the home and a cherry-picking truck, from Hyperion Tree Service, was parked next to the home. Both trucks were there to trim down a tree that was too close to the home and was leaning towards a neighbor's home.
At some point, the truck that had the large crane attached to it tipped over towards the house and ended up on its end, resting on the tires on the left side of the truck.
"I just got home, I hadn't even closed the door when I heard this bang boom sound," said neighbor Joana McDonnell. "I turned around and I looked at the truck and I thought to myself, the trucks not supposed to be like that. I ran outside the workers had already called 911, but I looked up on the roof, there was a worker on the roof you could tell his leg was injured."
VIEW: Photos From The Scene
The crane came down and a worker in the cherry-picking truck spotted the crane and jump out of the work bucket and landed on the home's roof. The worker was taken to an area hospital with a broken leg.
The crane operator had to stay in the truck for over an hour because there was a live wire on it. PSEG workers cut off electricity and he was able to get out.
Fire Chief Joe Riggs told CBS Philly the part of the tree they were cutting off was too heavy for the crane, so it fell over.
Two separate cranes were brought to the location to remove the tipped crane.
Eyewitness News talked with the crane operator who is the owner of J.L. Dobbs, Inc. He was not injured.
The owner said he told the Hyperion Tree Service workers the crane could take up to 2,000 pounds, but he says the tree workers cut a piece that weighed hundreds of pounds more.
A call to the Tree Service was not returned.
No one was inside the home at the time of the accident except for a family dog, who was not injured.
OSHA representatives were on the scene.
