A veteran tree trimmer with two decades of experience has died in a horrific workplace accident in Los Angeles, after falling 35 feet from a palm tree and being impaled on an iron fence.
A Routine Job Turns to Tragedy
The fatal incident occurred on Monday afternoon in the Canoga Park neighbourhood. Rogelio Cruz, 48, was working on a palm tree on Valerio Street around 3:30pm when his safety rope became loose. This caused him to plummet to the ground in front of his own brothers, who were working alongside him.
Cruz, who had been identified by his grieving family, landed on the spikes of an iron fence below. Despite the efforts of emergency crews, he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Los Angeles Fire Department reported that rescue teams worked meticulously to "lift this individual off in a dignified manner." A white sheet was used to cover him during the delicate operation.
A Life of Service and a Family Business
Rogelio Cruz was no novice; he possessed 20 years of experience in the arborist trade and worked for a company owned by his family. His relatives have been left shattered by the sudden loss of a man described as endlessly generous.
His niece, Janeth Cruz, remembered her uncle as "always so giving" and the type of person who would "give the shirt off his back." She told NBC Los Angeles, "No matter if he knew you or not, he would just lend it. Always the first person to be like: 'I'm here. What can I do?'"
The family's grief was echoed by his cousin, Richard Areloa, who struggled to comprehend the tragedy. "I don't know how one can process what happened," he said. "Everyday routine - goes up, does the job, cuts it down, comes back down, goes home, and it just wasn’t like that today. Here we are, all still trying to cope with everything." Cruz had only recently celebrated his 48th birthday in September.
A Grim Reminder of Inherent Dangers
This tragic event underscores the extreme dangers faced by tree surgery professionals daily. It follows another recent fatality in California, where a father, Cathal Kerr, was killed last month by a falling tree branch in a San Diego park while playing with his young sons.
The death of Rogelio Cruz serves as a stark reminder of the risks in the industry, even for the most experienced workers, and has left a family-run business and a community in mourning.
