ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Two workers were injured after a crane fell on a house in Issaquah on Tuesday afternoon while a family was inside, Eastside Fire and Rescue officials said.
The crane fell into the home during a large tree removal operation that was being performed by Eastside Tree Works.
Based on the location of the home, the tree had to be cut into pieces and removed one at a time. Each piece was lifted over the house with the crane.
According to the homeowner, Trista Oliva, the removal was a two-man job. One worker, who was hoisted up in a harness, worked to cut the tree into pieces while the other operated the crane.
The tree was waterlogged, and a particularly heavy section brought the crane down, the owner told KIRO 7.
The family was inside the home when it happened.
“I hear my daughter go, ‘It’s falling!’ and I was in the middle of a bagel bite, and I just jumped out of my desk and ran, and then I heard a crash,” said Oliva.
Both workers sustained minor injuries.
According to Eastside Fire and Rescue, the worker who was operating the crane “rode” the crane down and was able to crawl out onto the roof. He came away with minor cuts and scrapes.
The other worker, who was cutting the tree, fell approximately 15-20 feet.
Oliva said after the crane collapsed, one of the workers checked on them immediately despite having fallen nearly two stories.
“He was on his feet, and he came to talk to us. He said, ‘Are you OK?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, we’re all fine,’ and then he laid on the ground and didn’t get up,” Oliva said.
Eastside Fire and Rescue confirmed he was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons but is expected to be OK. The family was uninjured.
“We go through all of our precautions, all our checklists, but accidents happen. And so, unfortunately, this was another accident, luckily, minor injury, everyone was fortunate today,” said Mark Vetter with Eastside Fire and Rescue.
In a statement to KIRO 7, Eastside Tree Works expressed:
“We are grateful that there were no serious injuries and that everyone is going home to their families tonight. We are thankful that the family whose home we were working at are uninjured. We would like to thank the community and our clients, as so many people reached out today to check on the safety of our team. We have rigorous safety training and protocols in place to prevent accidents, and the cause of this incident is currently being investigated.”
Once the investigation is complete, Vetter said the city will send in its building department to see if the house is structurally sound. At that time, the department representatives will also remove the crane.
KIRO 7 is told that process will take days.