Abstract: At 9:30 a.m. on April 26, 2013, Employee #1 and #2 were using a 200 foot by 0.625 inch double braided lowering line to cut a section of a 40 foot River Birch tree which was 22 inches in diameter. The employees needed to let the dead tree fall in a certain location to avoid damage to the property. The two employees planned an escape route prior to cutting the trees down. When the tree started to fall in the fell zone, Employee #1 was not able to get out of the way in time and was struck by a section of the tree that broke off when the tree struck another tree. Employee #1 was struck in the back of the head, which cracked his hard hat and threw the employee into the creek. The employee sustained head trauma, a severed brain stem, and a severed spinal cord which killed him.