Robinson man injured when hit by falling tree

Sat, Jul 5, 2008    to del.icio.us

ROBINSON TOWNSHIP — A township man was seriously injured when he was hit by a falling tree Thursday morning.

The tree was likely damaged when three severe storms hit West Michigan on Wednesday.

Rick Fett, 36, of 12452 120th Ave., was taken to North Ottawa Community Hospital for treatment of his injuries after the 9:15 a.m. accident on his back patio, said Robinson Township Fire Chief Paul VanVelzen.

Fett suffered a broken jaw and facial and head lacerations, VanVelzen said.

Fett was undergoing tests and was expected to go into surgery Thursday afternoon for the broken jaw. He was listed in serious condition at the time. A nursing supervisor said he was released Friday after treatment.

VanVelzen said, according to Fett's family, Fett had walked out of the lower level of the house onto the patio to take a swing out of a large, old willow tree. He reached the edge of the patio and a limb about 1.5 to 2 feet in diameter came down. VanVelzen said the top of the limb hit the ground and the base of the limb swung around and hit Fett.

"He wasn't near the tree at all," VanVelzen said.

Apparently the tree limb had cracked when heavy winds hit the area along with Wednesday night's thunderstorms, VanVelzen said. The weight of the limb eventually brought it down.

The storms kept Robinson Township firefighters busy for several hours Wednesday night, with all of the calls coming after a second storm blew through the area about 4:15 p.m., VanVelzen said.

"We had one report of a house fire, but that turned out to be nothing," he said. "We recorded nine runs Wednesday for trees and power lines down. There were more than that, but we were so busy we had to just run."

Firefighters spent four hours alone cleaning up trees that fell across 120th, Lincoln, Johnson and North Cedar streets — and that was just enough to get the cars through, VanVelzen said.