DEEPSEAWOLF
Contributor
It appears that a tree limb fell on a campsite from an 80' tree in the early evening. Here is the story in the Gainesville sun.
http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050607/LOCAL/206070332/1078/news
This is very saddening. I believe the loop they are talking about is in the primitive camp area.
It is in local news, most read news stories at the bottom of the page. Or the article here;
Article published Jun 7, 2005
[font=verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Tree limb hits, kills camper at Ginnie Springs
A camper at a North Florida park died over the weekend after a tree limb struck her Saturday night, the Gilchrist County Sheriff's Office reported.
Deputies did not identify the 31-year-old woman from Clearwater Monday, pending notification of her family about the incident.
The woman had set up a campsite underneath a tree at Ginnie Springs when she was fatally injured, said Sheriff's Office Lt. Bryant Frye.
The tree was a large oak, believed to be about 80 feet tall, according to Sheriff David Turner.
Two troopers, working off-duty at the springs, were called to the campsite after the accident and contacted paramedics and the Gilchrist County Sheriff's Office, said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Mike Burroughs.
The accident occurred between 8 and 9 p.m. in the Turkey Roost area of the park. An employee Monday said the area has been marked off by the Sheriff's Office but the park remains open.
Investigators had not determined what might have caused the limb to fall. The area had seen heavy rains in the past several days.
The springs are located off County Road 340 and are a well-known diving spot.
The Sheriff's Office has previously investigated drownings at the springs. But, Frye said, "to my knowledge, I haven't had an incident like this in the past."
"Trees fall all the time," said Rick Dolan, forest area supervisor with the Florida Division of Forestry. To have someone hit by a limb, however, he said, "those kind of things are very rare."
In 2001, a tree limb fell on top of a Gainesville woman's car as she was driving on Millhopper Road and nearing NW 53rd Street, crushing the vehicle. The crash left the woman a quadriplegic.
Dolan said there are a number of reasons a tree limb could fail, ranging from disease to the tree's age or weather conditions that weaken the branch.
Meg Niederhofer, Gainesville's city arborist, said trees in city parks are regularly checked for weaknesses and pruned when appropriate.
"It's important to have an active program to try and foresee that sort of thing," she said.
Lise Fisher can be reached at (352) 374-5092 or fisherl@ gvillesun.com. Sun reporter Karen Voyles contributed to this report.
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http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050607/LOCAL/206070332/1078/news
This is very saddening. I believe the loop they are talking about is in the primitive camp area.
It is in local news, most read news stories at the bottom of the page. Or the article here;
Article published Jun 7, 2005
[font=verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Tree limb hits, kills camper at Ginnie Springs
A camper at a North Florida park died over the weekend after a tree limb struck her Saturday night, the Gilchrist County Sheriff's Office reported.
Deputies did not identify the 31-year-old woman from Clearwater Monday, pending notification of her family about the incident.
The woman had set up a campsite underneath a tree at Ginnie Springs when she was fatally injured, said Sheriff's Office Lt. Bryant Frye.
The tree was a large oak, believed to be about 80 feet tall, according to Sheriff David Turner.
Two troopers, working off-duty at the springs, were called to the campsite after the accident and contacted paramedics and the Gilchrist County Sheriff's Office, said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Mike Burroughs.
The accident occurred between 8 and 9 p.m. in the Turkey Roost area of the park. An employee Monday said the area has been marked off by the Sheriff's Office but the park remains open.
Investigators had not determined what might have caused the limb to fall. The area had seen heavy rains in the past several days.
The springs are located off County Road 340 and are a well-known diving spot.
The Sheriff's Office has previously investigated drownings at the springs. But, Frye said, "to my knowledge, I haven't had an incident like this in the past."
"Trees fall all the time," said Rick Dolan, forest area supervisor with the Florida Division of Forestry. To have someone hit by a limb, however, he said, "those kind of things are very rare."
In 2001, a tree limb fell on top of a Gainesville woman's car as she was driving on Millhopper Road and nearing NW 53rd Street, crushing the vehicle. The crash left the woman a quadriplegic.
Dolan said there are a number of reasons a tree limb could fail, ranging from disease to the tree's age or weather conditions that weaken the branch.
Meg Niederhofer, Gainesville's city arborist, said trees in city parks are regularly checked for weaknesses and pruned when appropriate.
"It's important to have an active program to try and foresee that sort of thing," she said.
Lise Fisher can be reached at (352) 374-5092 or fisherl@ gvillesun.com. Sun reporter Karen Voyles contributed to this report.
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