TUSTIN, Calif., Nov. 9, 2007

Fall Into Wood Chipper Kills Tree Trimmer

California Worker Was Feeding Branches Into Machine When Accident Happened

  •  (AP / CBS)

(CBS/AP)  An Orange County tree trimmer feeding branches into a wood chipper was pulled into the shredding machine and killed.

The Los Angeles Times identified the victim as Gabriel Gonzales-Ferrer, 24.

Gonzales-Ferrer was "was standing at the back end of the chipper, throwing branches into it with his co-workers nearby," Tustin police Sgt. Pat Welch told the newspaper. "One of them looked over, and he was gone."

The Wednesday afternoon accident in Tustin is being investigated by the California Occupation and Safety Health Administration.

Police called to the residential area just after 4 p.m. found the landscape worker's body inside the wood chipper.

Wood chippers shred branches and tree trimmings into mulch.

Thirty-one people have been killed in wood chipper accidents between 1992 and 2002, according to a 2005 Journal of the American Medical Association report.


© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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by zootallures2 November 10, 2007 3:14 AM EST
Saddam Hussein used to feed them in slowly. He didn''t waste money that could go to palaces on propaganda and rigged voting machines. Cost effective and right to the point.
Reply to this comment
by sgtrds November 10, 2007 3:08 AM EST
Someone should point out to Bush how much easier trimming brush at his phony movie set "ranch" would be if he used a wood trimmer. If he''s as pathetic at that as he''s been at everything else then the world would soon have one less Bush to worry about.........
Reply to this comment
by incog-nito November 10, 2007 2:18 AM EST
Let this be a wake up call to people everywhere: be careful around wood chippers.
Reply to this comment
by toolmangler-2009 November 10, 2007 12:18 AM EST
That''''s gotta hurt.

Posted by Keithle1 at 07:44 PM : Nov 09, 2007


Probably happened so fast he never felt a thing. (I hope)
Reply to this comment
by sblake63 November 10, 2007 12:12 AM EST
" in an instant, he was gone forever! There but for the grace of God...

Posted by staycalm"

Yep, but for grace of gawd he drove to work and then god killed him, but that''''s ok because according to you right winge jezus freaks he is now sitting at da right hand of the lard in paradise forever, we should be CELEBRATING!!
Congratulations on your death Amigo, hope your family joins you with jezus just ASAP!!!



Posted by newster1 at 08:30 PM : Nov 09, 2007

Hahaha **** Alert here. I bet you had a big ole smile on your face while writing that thinking "got dem Jesus freaks good with this one" hahaha But, whets really going to be funny is when you pass away and stand before Christ and he says "I don''t know you", I wonder if that smile will still be there?

Lets see ya make fun of Satan to his face LOL, because if you don''t change this nonsense way of thinking, you''ll be meeting with him for sure. Us Jesus freaks will take your little jokes for now, but we shall have the last laugh. God Bless.
Reply to this comment
by nothappyatall November 9, 2007 11:38 PM EST
"Thirty-one people have been killed in wood chipper accidents between 1992 and 2002, according to a 2005 Journal of the American Medical Association report.

There are usally 8-10 people working on a crew
FOR THE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE WORKED ON THESE MACHINE
THAT IS A FANTASTIC SAFETY RECORD

More people are killed in swimming pools"

EXACTLY, people never look at the bigger picture, all they see is "32 people KILLED" 32 people out of millions in at least a decade.
Probably as many mechanics and others died being sucked into jet engines or killed by props on small planes at airports.
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by nothappyatall November 9, 2007 11:34 PM EST
"his name says nothing my parents are Hispanic and Im a citizen my daughter is a citizen but just because my last name and hers are Hispanic does not mean we dont know any English and our family lives her Mexico, we have a Mexican back round"
mbcsmith



Let''s see, Mexican last name, age 24, pushing tree limbs into a machine with a work crew, it all adds up to;
MEXICAN.
But you know, this must be one of dem lowly jobs they say Americans won''t take! and that only the illegals will work at happily for $2 an hour under the table.
Reply to this comment
by nothappyatall November 9, 2007 11:30 PM EST
" in an instant, he was gone forever! There but for the grace of God...

Posted by staycalm"

Yep, but for grace of gawd he drove to work and then god killed him, but that''s ok because according to you right winge jezus freaks he is now sitting at da right hand of the lard in paradise forever, we should be CELEBRATING!!
Congratulations on your death Amigo, hope your family joins you with jezus just ASAP!!!
Reply to this comment
by keithle1 November 9, 2007 10:44 PM EST
That''s gotta hurt.
Reply to this comment
by toolmangler-2009 November 9, 2007 10:03 PM EST
"Fall Into Wood Chipper Kills Tree Trimmer"

I am sorry for his death, at least it happened so fast he probably didn''t feel a thing, but it wasn''t thee ''fall'' that killed him a the headline suggests. it was the obsrtuction in the hole that did it (chipper drum)
Reply to this comment
by zootallures2 November 9, 2007 9:21 PM EST
The ghost of Saddam !
Reply to this comment
by configt November 9, 2007 8:48 PM EST
sblake63

You implied a cut above correct?
Reply to this comment
by sblake63 November 9, 2007 8:43 PM EST
sblake63

At 24 years of age, I was laying bricks and earning $8.25 per hour. Today I am the president of an IT consulting firm. Yes, you are correct my life was over 14 years ago.


Posted by configt at 05:37 PM : Nov 09, 2007

__________________________

Laying bricks is a cut about landscaping LOL. But have at it defending the defenseless lol. Go program some more Cisco routers & switches and leave the defending to somebody else LOL.
Reply to this comment
by configt November 9, 2007 8:37 PM EST
sblake63

At 24 years of age, I was laying bricks and earning $8.25 per hour. Today I am the president of an IT consulting firm. Yes, you are correct my life was over 14 years ago.
Reply to this comment
by zootallures2 November 9, 2007 8:32 PM EST
The ghost of Saddam did it.
Reply to this comment
by b-easy63 November 9, 2007 8:27 PM EST
If you find yourself at 24, feeding wood into a machine, your life isnt ahead of you LOL. Your life is an utter failure. Sad but true!
Posted by sblake63 at 05:21 PM : Nov 09, 2007

What an ugly comment. Fit only for people who measure the value of life not by love, or interests but just by a dollar--can''t get any more wh*orish than that.
Reply to this comment
by sblake63 November 9, 2007 8:25 PM EST
The ACLU will be suing the tree trimming service because Mr Gonzalez-Ferrer apparently couldn''''''''t read the big warnings posted on the machine. They were in English


Posted by mbcsmith at 04:38 PM : Nov 09, 2007
________________________

Hahaha Good one, and very true. But consider this, perhaps one less Hillary or Obama voter? Hahahaha
Reply to this comment
by b-easy63 November 9, 2007 8:24 PM EST
The man did not even have time to scream? How could no one even see it happening? The noise of it drowned out his horrified cry? RIP and I do hope it truly was over for him in an instant.
Reply to this comment
by sblake63 November 9, 2007 8:21 PM EST
Correct me if I am wrong, but a human being just passed away. Particular members on this board possess no since of humanity. I reflect on what will become of us. Anyway, I feel dreadful for the family of the 24 year old who just passed away. What a way to go. The young man was 24 years old with a life time ahead of him.


Posted by configt at 05:15 PM : Nov 09, 2007

If you find yourself at 24, feeding wood into a machine, your life isnt ahead of you LOL. Your life is an utter failure. Sad but true!
Reply to this comment
by boston1954 November 9, 2007 8:18 PM EST
The easiest fail safe option would be a pedal. If the operator does not have a foot on the pedal then the chipper will not run. Kind of like the newer lawnmowers.

Posted by bandolph at 09:48 AM : Nov 09, 2007
__

That is an excellent idea. You could save many lives if you contact the makers of the machine.
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