Atmospheric river: Falling redwood kills infant in Sonoma County
SONOMA COUNTY – Wednesday's strong storm has turned deadly after a redwood tree fell onto a Sonoma County home, killing an infant inside.
According to officials, the incident happened at a home in the community of Occidental around 5:30 p.m.
UPDATE: Young boy killed by falling redwood in Sonoma County identified
"One of our major incidents was a redwood falling into a house up on Joy Road and we had a fatality up there of an infant," said Chief Ronald Lunardi of the Occidental Volunteer Fire Department. "A 1- to 2-year-old infant. There was a husband, wife and the baby in the residence."
"When I first arrived on scene, a frantic father came out of the house holding the child. he was covered in debris and said: 'My child is not breathing.' We are in a rural location, so my first thought was to get him into my truck and let's get him out to the main road," the chief went on to say.
Lunardi, who was one of the first people on the scene, said the incident hit close for a lot of first responders.
"Any time you have a situation like this, especially with a child, people's emotions are a lot higher. Lot of people in our department have kids that age," he said.
Additional details about the incident were not immediately available.
The child's name has not been released.
