[UPDATE: 199 Reopened] Falling Tree Leaves at Least One Person Dead and Closes Hwy 199
![Good Samaritans who tried to assist the occupants stand around a vehicle crushed by a tree on Hwy 199. The vehicle images has been blocked out as family have not been notified. [Photo by Courtney Mae]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Vehicle-crushed-by-the-tree.jpg)
Good Samaritans who tried to assist the occupants stand around a vehicle crushed by a tree on Hwy 199. The vehicle image has been blocked out as family have not been notified. [Crop of a photo by Courtney Mae]
Screenshot from the Facebook page of Caltrans District 1 showing the location of the fatal tree fall.
Courtney Mae who took the photo above was one of the first cars to arrive on the scene. She was traveling from Crescent City to her home in Oregon.
“I probably arrived on the scene about 11:50ish,” she explained. “I noticed that traffic had stopped. I noticed the truck behind me swerve around me and turn into Walker Road. I followed suit after a minute or so.”
When she got closer she realized that a redwood tree had fallen onto a vehicle and across 199.
“I could see there was a car underneath the tree,” she told us. “At that point there were no emergency personnel…There was no movement. There was no sign of any life. Everyone was just kind of standing around looking.”
Mae snapped a photo then headed back to Hwy 101 to travel north that way. But she still is unsettled by the experience. “It was incredibly unnerving,” she explained. “I feel horrible for the people inside….It has been such a rough year… .”
UPDATE 2:27 p.m.: Caltrans reports that Hwy 199 has reopened.
UPDATE: Two Die After Tree Crushes Car on 199, Says CHP
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This is beyond disrespectful, this pic is so unnecessary.
Should we pull down the photo of the Vietnamese girl covered with napalm? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFUFRl1sMNU
How about lets take down all the photos of the Twin Towers?
Maybe no one should ever see what a fatal wreck looks like? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_28EVVAKWBI
I do not find this disrespectful. If the image of the vehicle had not been blacked out then I would have agreed with Local. But this way people were aware of the closure and what has occurred. Your articles are always well done Kym. Thank you for the job you do.
I should have just posted the photo without blocking out anything. No bodies were shown.
It makes no sense at all to pretend that bad things don’t happen.
Kym, I totally agree with you. Some people seem to live in a make believe world, and can’t cope with reality. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Kym.
There should never be a photo posted before the family’s have been notified. I’m also from Yreka and this was a very loved couple by many. Very hard time for their kids. Don’t think photos should be shared.
Do you think that news reporters should not have posted photos of the Twin Towers as they burned. Thousands died in them.
How about the Vietnamese girl running naked down the road covered in napalm? Wouldn’t that be a horrible photo to see if she was a loved one?
News covers horrible events. Almost every time I write, someone is seeing something distressing to them.
Death, no matter how incredibly tragic, is part of life. We can’t will it away by not looking.
I cried over this story. Not because of the photo but because this couple and their children are going to be missing out on each other for ever. Not posting the picture doesn’t change that.
Amen!!! Well said.
I’m related to these ppl and I live far away And wanted any news I could get and it wasn’t a horrible picture and they both would be upset u ppl are fighting over bullshit block the photo or not block the photo there lives matter and blocking it because of some snow flakes opinion Doesn’t make it not a reality we have suffered enough we don’t need you idiot. Trolls chiming in
I’m so sorry Mike for the loss of your family members, praying for you and those beautiful children.
Very sorry for your loss. My son went to school with Jake. Prayers for all the family. Thank you for your post.
Thank you for keeping it real
It’s not like you are showing bloody highway movies like they did in high school. Maybe if they started showing those again it might slow teenagers down. I know this has nothing to do with the article,but.
I still do not understand What the advantages of having these anonymous Posts. There is no accountability for one’s words. And it just breeds more of the hate and disrespect that has taken over our country.
However Kym your news source is the best
Check out Facebook. People not only have their names but photos of their kids and their mom up and link to the place they work. Yet, they will spout all sorts of horrible things.
Anonymity is not the problem in my opinion. Lack of enough sense to realize that people online are still human and what you say can be read by thousands and could reflect badly on you for years into the future.
Agree, Ric — no accountability for disrespect with anonymity.
That photo and stories like that helped inform U.S. citizens to protest the unthinkable horror
the poor Vietnam villagers endured.
They blacked out the vehicle. I think we all need to be aware of these falling trees in high winds. People should know how dangerous it is driving through these areas during high winds. I didn’t find it disrespectful at all.
Oh shush!
Wrong, Local.
Damn. What terrible luck. Sometimes the world just shits on you.
Think of the odds.
Just a few car lengths farther ahead, or farther behind.
Incalculable. A half second taken or given at any point prior would have put them out of harms way.
Your honesty in reporting is upfront and proper Kym. Thank you for keeping us all informed about our backyard.
This is the definition of a tragic traffic accident Nobody’s fault! I’m sorry for your loss family and friends
Frankly, I don’t know what I’d do without you, Kym. Your work is valuable to our community.
My sincere condolences to the family and friends of the victims.
Thank you!
Man, that’s so tragic. My condolences to the family. I have always worried about this. The counties in Northern California need to do a much better job at mitigation of these hazard trees. Spend some tax money they collect from cannabis grows and get some fallers out there taking down these dangerous trees.
It seems like it must have been these people’s time. A tragic traffic accident.
Hate to say It, it’s almost impossible to know when one of these comes down. So sorry for family and friends of victims. All we can do is remember the victims, clean up the mess and move on…
She should of stayed on scene since she was one of the first to arrive, I have to by law, so should everyone else
There were at least nine other people there before her and she didn’t see the accident…I can’t imagine law enforcement wants a hundred people waiting at the scene of every rural wreck.
My husband and I were there, just minutes after it happened. There was nothing that could be done at that point. There were several of us out there, and as soon as we pulled what pieces of the tree off that we could to get to them, it was obvious there was nothing anyone could do as they (the victims) were beyond help. Emergency services were on their way, and congestion wouldn’t have helped them get where they needed to be.
There was no need for the lady mentioned in the story to stay. I had already called 911 and my partner and other bystanders had already done everything that could be done. My partner and I were there when the tree came down. It narrowly missed my family as we walked our family along the highway, back to our vehicles after exiting the trail area. We had just crossed the point where the tree fell, about 60 seconds earlier. We were heading toward our vehicles when a white Honda Accord passed us. My eldest daughter noticed it was a guy driving. We heard a God-awful crack and rumbling like thunder. I had my eyes first on the kids, thankfully clustered close to us. My partner had his eyes on the road, saw the trees falling, and a shout from the driver, before the main tree disintegrated and landed across their sunroof. It all came down hard. My partner sprinted back as the splinters settled and I called 911. I put our 16 year olds in charge by our vehicles and ran back, while talking to the dispatcher. The horn was blaring from the car under the tree and we could smell gas. The back end of the car was now only two feet thick. My partner went carefully to the side, over the log, to the front, and pried open the hood to disconnect the battery. I don’t know how he did that with bare hands. With the horn silenced, we called out, asking if anyone could hear us…but there was only silence. Other bystanders and my partner moved chunks of the tree out of the way and were able to see into the compartment. No one survived impact. It was extremely clear. They died instantly. We relayed the license number to the operator and stood by for emergency services. I was very grateful for all the good samaritans, all those that tried or made ready to help until it was clear that nothing more could be done. And those that joined us to pray for them at the scene.
Thank you so much for doing what you could and for clearly writing down what happened so others could understand.
You are welcome. If you ever hear who the family is or where the services are to be held, we would like to send our condolences. It is hitting the children pretty hard that they were the last ones to see the people alive, and that they witnessed their death. We were just down from Oregon over Spring Break to see the redwoods for the first time.
Oh I am so thankful you all were there and willing to help, and offer prayers. This young loving couple will be missed by their children, family, and friends. They were amazing persons. Thank you for sharing what happened – their family had been desperate to find them.
I will pass it on if I learn.
Good Samaritans – I will pass on your request to their family. Thankful you were there to help.
Thank you for being there for my family. That was my cousin and her husband. Our families & friends are completely devastated. 💕
Now how the hell can tree leaves leave one person dead? And close the highway.
WTF. Don’t you bleeding hearts have anything else to do. If you want to have something to whine about, what about the corrupt dnc stealing the election and tearing our country down. Now you Marxist fools are proud of what you did to this country.
No one feed this Russian troll
Want to start with.. Make time for loved ones, if you can make time for a tv show or movie or beer with friends, you can make time for them.
One Love all
I’m a family member of the those two, out of simple respect these pictures should have been taken down for at least 48hrs, it’s not pictures of these big historic changing events in which you add for comparison, it’s our loved ones beneath that fallen tree. This has nothing to do with being sensitive, pretending bad things don’t happen or Coping with reality. You are ignorant if you wrote and actually believe those comments, and not one person tried to bring a constructive argument about this being disrespectful. if you took down the pic and painted the picture with words and emotion and then few days later put them back up, that would’ve been the moral thing to do for the ones effected. But feeding the morbid curiosity seems to be your stand, and that’s ok. I wanted to give a better take but I already spent to much time here.
One more thing, “Ric LeGendre” anonymous posting can be very annoying and sometimes harmful because of exactly what you said, But people can’t control themselves and “Bad actors” with hurt ego’s can do a lot with having just a name to start with..
I’m sorry for your loss and one of aspect of my job that bothers me is that it causes some people pain. But every car accident has a loved one of someone in it, should I not put up photos of car accidents? If I take them down because it hurts someone, what about the people who learn visually and understand better what area to avoid or how that intersection has repeated crashes and how to get around a crash?
What about the woman whose partner died in a fiery crash who thanked me for helping her understand better what had happened because of the photo? It helped her to let go. I’d be like her. I’d want every scrap of information I could get hold of. I know not everyone is like that, but they have the option of not checking articles about incidents. Yet if I don’t post something, the people like me who want every piece possible, won’t have any option.
And let’s say we take down photos, maybe we should also take down all pieces of information that hurt people. When a family member is arrested, it is painful. Should I avoid posting the names of those arrested? Those convicted?
Unless I’m writing good news, everything I post hurts someone. One of the police officers I exposed for corruption who is facing federal charges has young children. I hurt those little kids with what I wrote. Should I not post their dad’s photo? Or report what he did wrong?
I wish that showing the truth had no painful side effects but it does. And I don’t know when I post an image or an article who is going to find it helpful and who hurtful. It’s my job to do it though.
If anyone is inclined, here is the GoFundMe page for this poor family. Any amount will help the kids!
https://gofund.me/de04feb8
I’ve put a post out in case in helps. https://kymkemp.com/2021/03/27/fundraiser-set-up-for-children-orphaned-when-tree-fell-on-parents-car/
Drove thru maybe an hour after this happened, noticed a tree fell, and hoped no one got hurt. Deepest deepest condolences to the family! Tragic!
So devastating. My heart goes out to their 5 children!!!
I can’t imagine how hard this must be to the children suffering this loss my heart is hurting for you. We need to make sure this never happens again. Im not sure what that looks like, if it’s even a possibility but it’s well worth looking into. I’ve lived here nearly my whole life and know how unforgiving these redwoods can be. But never seen or heard about anything so tragic happen here. It seems so unfair. There are no words. I don’t even feel safe traveling these roads anymore. This could have been any one of us. I’m am so deeply sorry for your loss.