Abstract: A crew for a tree trimming and removal company was assigned to remove eight trees, trim other trees, and perform clean up at a residence. The supervisor on the jobsite told the employees which trees were to be removed, and the employees began working. After the crew had been working a while, one of the tree workers asked another tree worker if he could help remove a spruce tree. The second worker agreed to be the ground worker while the first tree worker topped the spruce in preparation for removing it. The supervisor had previously inspected the site and knew that the spruce tree and one other tree that was to be removed had an overhead power line running near them. The side of the spruce facing the power line had already been trimmed. The supervisor stated that he had instructed the tree worker to climb the side of the tree away from the power line, where there were still limbs on the tree. After the tree worker topped the tree, he was to descend on the same side he ascended and stay away from the power line. The tree worker climbed the tree and began to top it. At various times, he was within 10 feet of the overhead power line. When he was done, he descended the tree on the side facing the power line. As he was coming down, he leaned back into the C-phase conductor of the power line, which was only 42 inches from the trunk of the tree. The employee remained in contacted with the 7200-volt conductor for about 30 seconds before being thrown free. The supervisor rescued the injured employee from the tree, and coworkers administered cardio-pulmonary resuscitation until emergency medical services arrived. The injured employee was flown by helicopter to a burn center, where he died of electrocution.