WASHINGTON (AP) — A maintenance worker at the U.S. Capitol has died after a large tree branch fell on top of him.
A statement from the Architect of the Capitol, Stephen Ayers, identified the man who was killed as Matthew McClanahan. The statement says McClanahan was working on an irrigation pipe on Tuesday morning when a branch fell from an American Elm tree.
Police and firefighters freed McClanahan from under the branch and he was taken to a hospital in what fire officials described as “very critical” condition. He later died.
Ayers says McClanahan “was a talented, dedicated pipefitter” and asks for prayers for his family, friends and colleagues.
U.S. Capitol police say grounds crews are removing what remains at the tree. A portion of Independence Avenue remains closed.
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WTF!? No one noticed this widow maker hanging up the tree? Are people really that dense/oblivious/unable to forsee a dangerous outcome? Oh, wait, on the Capitol grounds? Never mind. /s. But also tragic.
ETA. Branch indeed. Just looked at the photo - the tree split at the base! Describing this as “a fallen branch” leaves a lot to be desired. And maybe the Capitol Architect should have a competent arborist 'round to look at the rest of the shrubbery.
This is what happens when maintenance is deferred. Because we cannot increase taxes under any circumstances.
@susanintheoc Exactly! From the photo it looks as though the tree had an unusual growth configuration for an American elm, which typically would divide into two or more stems much higher up. (I’m old enough to remember streets lined with healthy elms just before the Dutch elm disease killed so many of them here in the Northeast, so I know what they should look like.) The failure to remove this tree, or cable the two main stems, before the inevitable split occurred can indeed be lain at the feet of a penny-pinching buildings and grounds budget. On the doorstep of the bloody Capitol fer Crissakes! To the list of crumbling bridges and highways, etc., I guess we have to add toppling trees.