Abstract: On December 15, 2003, Employee #1 had contracted with the owner of a small apartment complex in Lawndale, CA, where he was a tenant, to work on two palm trees. The owner wanted one removed and the other trimmed. Employee #1 normally worked as a tree trimmer and gardener and had the necessary equipment to trim trees. He was assisted by his cousin, who worked as a gardener. Employee #1 and his cousin had cut down the first tree and were trimming dead fronds from the second tree. To accomplish this, Employee #1 climbed the tree using his tree climbing spikes and a safety belt with a lanyard. Working from below, he began pulling the fronds free from the tree. They were interlaced, though, and did not fall at first. When he had pulled a sufficient quantity of fronds free, the weight of the free ones pulled the remainder of them down. They slid as a single unit down the tree, like a doughnut on a post. The weight of the fronds pinned him in his belt against the tree, suffocating him. The Los Angeles County Fire Department responded, to no avail.