NYCHA FORESTER
ArboristSite Operative
DALLAS PLANTATION — A Lucas Tree Experts employee clearing CMP power lines was killed Wednesday morning after a part of the chipper he was working on broke off and slammed him in the chest, according to police.
James Lightbody, 32, of Strong suffered massive chest trauma when a 30-pound metal lid on the chipper flew off its hinges and hit him after he opened it to dislodge some debris. He had turned the chipper off but did not wait to open the lid until the blades stopped turning, a process that can take five minutes. He was pronounced dead at the scene by a state medical examiner, said state police Trooper Scott Stevens.
An investigator from the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration was at the site Wednesday afternoon along with representatives from CMP and Lucas Tree, Stevens said.
James Lightbody, 32, of Strong suffered massive chest trauma when a 30-pound metal lid on the chipper flew off its hinges and hit him after he opened it to dislodge some debris. He had turned the chipper off but did not wait to open the lid until the blades stopped turning, a process that can take five minutes. He was pronounced dead at the scene by a state medical examiner, said state police Trooper Scott Stevens.
An investigator from the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration was at the site Wednesday afternoon along with representatives from CMP and Lucas Tree, Stevens said.