Connecticut Worker Killed by Falling Tree

Federal workplace safety officials have been called in to investigate the death of a Connecticut worker killed by a falling tree.

Police in Simsbury say 24-year-old tree worker Luke Stetson of Windsor Locks was about 30 feet up a tree trimming branches and wearing a safety harness when the white oak fell over and landed on top of him late Monday morning off Chestnut Hill Road.

Stetson was later pronounced dead at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford.

He was working for Wayne’s Tree Removal at the time. The business owner, Wayne Allen, says the tree Stetson was working on looked healthy and strong, but he learned later it had dry rot inside. He called it a freak accident.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.