On July 23, 2015, a Family Tree employee fell 30 feet to the ground when he ran out of rope and tried to rig his descent the rest of the way down. The accident happened in Ukiah and the climber trainee sustained a broken pelvis and other minor injuries and he was stabilized in the hospital following surgery. CalOSHA was notified by the employer and an investigation is ongoing.
On August 4, 2015, a four-man crew working for Martinez Tree was working on a PG&E transmission right-of-way line clearance in Castro Valley. Two men were controlling traffic while the employee was trimming a tree from a harness and throwing branches down a 50ft embankment to the road edge below. After he finished trimming the tree, he came down to ground level and was pulling hangers out of the tree and throwing them down to the lower level. When he grabbed a 3” dbh branch, he lost his balance and fell down the 50ft embankment to the roadway. The ground level the employee was working from was observed to be flat and it is not known why he lost his footing. None of the crew members witnessed his fall from the top. The employee was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for a fracture to his vertebrae.
On August 25, 2015, it was reported that a fire broke out in the garage at the SMUD East Campus. Three mechanics were reportedly burned in the fire of unknown origin at the time of the report. Two mechanics were treated, one for minor burns and the other for smoke inhalation. The third mechanic was transferred to the burn unit at UC Davis Medical Center with burns to his right arm and left hand.