A California man was killed while trimming palm fronds from a tree estimated to be about 80 feet tall at a home near a golf course in Bonita on Monday, February 13.
The tree trimmer was later identified as 39-year-old Bardomiano Bautista-Perez, a resident of Escondido, California.
Authorities were called to a home at Bonita Verde Drive at around 11:30 am on Monday. Responding officers found other people, later identified as Bautista-Perez’ coworkers, trying to rescue a man trapped about 50 feet from the ground on a palm tree.
The workers later told the police that Perez was working on the palm tree, trying to trim the fronds when some of them hit him, prompting him to go down from atop the 80-foot tree and eventually trapping him.
According to the Chula Vista Fire Department, firefighters immediately got to work and reached Perez using a large ladder. It took them another 30 minutes to cut him down and free him from the heavy foliage trapping him.
When the rescue crews got him to the ground, the man was not breathing. They performed CPR and attempted to resuscitate him but to no avail.
The medical examiner’s office said Perez was unfortunately pronounced dead at the scene.
Tim Mehrer, the Chula Vista Battalion Chief, said in a statement that they had previously witnessed such scenarios where palm fronds fall on tree trimmers. He said that the leaves that fall on the pruners are relatively unique to certain palm tree types.
Perez and four other tree trimmers had been hired for the job by a friend and were on the second job of the day when the tragedy struck.
His daughter said she hopes to start a family-owned tree-trimming company in honor of her father.
