Abstract: At 9:51 a.m. on August 3, 2011, Employee #1 was felling a tree. It was determined through employee interviews and observations at the site that Employee #1 had previously cut a 6 inch ash tree close to the ground but had left a small amount of hinge wood to hold the tree upright. Employee #1 had intended for a large cottonwood tree to fall into the small ash tree and knock it over. Employee #1 then proceeded to cut a conventional notch from the west side of a large cottonwood tree approximately 25 feet to the East of the first smaller ash tree. He plunge cut the interior of the tree, and was cutting back from the notch when his saw became stuck in the tree. Employee #2 attempted to back cut a couple of inches above where Employee #1's saw was stuck. As the two employees stood next to the tree, the tree began to fall towards the south in an unanticipated direction rather than towards the West as Employee #1 had intended. Employee #1 held on to his chain saw and attempted to free the saw from the tree as it began to fall. The tree hit another large tree and became hung up as it fell and it kicked back towards where Employee #1 and the Employee #2 were standing, knocking employee #1 to the ground. The tree hit employee #1 on the head causing a blunt force trauma from which he eventually died. The employee was wearing a hardhat and weather conditions were not a factor in the accident.