SF: Woman dies after being struck by a falling tree limb

[El Pinko]

Woman dies after being struck by a falling tree limb at Stern Grove
Marisa Lagos,John Koopman, Chronicle Staff Writers
Monday, April 14, 2008


(04-14) 21:51 PDT San Francisco -- A heavy limb from an apparently healthy redwood tree snapped today and plummeted into a parking lot at San Francisco's Stern Grove, killing a woman who was loading her dog into a car, officials said.
The woman, Kathleen Bolton, 50, was putting the dog into her Subaru Outback at the lot next to the concert meadow around 11:30 a.m. when part of the tree fell, hitting her and her car, said Fire Department Lt. Mindy Talmadge.
Paramedic crews took Bolton to San Francisco General Hospital, where she died at 12:14 p.m. The redwood tree is about 60 feet tall, and the limb that broke off was about 40 feet up from the ground. The limb was about 10 inches in diameter.
The tree is estimated to be around 40 years old and appeared to be healthy, said Recreation and Park Department spokeswoman Rose Dennis. Winds in the city gusted above 25 mph today, but Dennis said it was unknown whether that had anything to do with what happened.


This is really sad because it's just so random. Just goes to show you never know when fate is going to drop a big fucking tree branch on you. I used to take my kids to play and hike in the Stern Grove all the time.

It never occured to me that one of those big trees might just drop a branch on us without warning. Treasure the time you have with the people you love.

[dkf]

1. I was there during the storm at the beginning of the year...

we saw a bunch of tree limbs like this.

I saw a Prius that was in the same condition as this car.

Scary.

[El Pinko]

2. I'm rather surprised it was a redwood. They're fairly sturdy trees, usually.

It's the Eucalyptus that are really scary. They drop huge branches with every stiff breeze.

[Raejeanowl]

3. Just Plain Treasure The People You Love

You usually just don't know when your (or their) time is coming.