A worker was killed Thursday morning while trimming a tree near Forest Hill in Harford County, police said.
More than 50 rescue personnel from various agencies worked for more than four hours after he was pronounced dead to extricate him from the tree where he was trapped 30 feet in the air, on an embankment behind the 1700 block of Shanwick Road.
The man was identified as Elmer A. Galdamez, 24, of Glen Burnie. He was working for ClearTree Service in Joppa, which was hired by a property owner.
Rescue crews were initially dispatched to the site around 11 a.m. The crews first sent a rescue worker in a bucket up the tree and determined he was dead.
He was ultimately removed from the tree at 3:10 p.m.
"[There was] a growth of vines from one tree to the other, and the tree he was working on, as the pieces fell, the vines pulled the second tree down," Dave Williams, spokesman for Harford County Volunteer Fire & EMS Association.
The initial responders found the site was "highly unstable [and] presented extreme challenges," he said. "It's a very time-consuming effort because of the terrain… The tree is probably 200 feet from the roadway, down an embankment."
Monica Worrell, spokeswoman for Harford County Sheriff's Office, said at that time he had been crushed by a limb, but the exact cause of death remained under investigation.
Initial emergency radio calls said a man was "unconscious in a tree."
Initial responders included Fallston Volunteer Fire Company and the sheriff's office. Williams said Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company and representatives of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were also on the scene.
Asplundh Tree Expert Company was standing by. BGE representatives also arrived but decided they had liability concerns, Williams said.
"We are very, very limited on what equipment we can get to the scene," Williams said.
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