Crews are removing a large tree that fell on a home in DeKalb County and killed a 5-year-old boy early Monday morning.
By Mariya Murrow
A 5-year-old boy is dead after a tree fell onto his home in DeKalb County Monday morning.
The family has identified the boy as Zachary. They declined to provide his last name at this time.
#Heartbreaking. This is the 5-year-old DeKalb County boy who died when a tree fell onto his home early this morning as wintry weather arrived in metro Atlanta. I’ll have a live report at noon on @cbs46. https://t.co/jxuLGctiLw pic.twitter.com/yqR1s8plT3
— Rebekka Schramm (@SchrammCBS46) January 3, 2022
The tree fell just after 5 a.m. along Glenwood Road. First responders rushed to the scene where they found that the tree had split the home in half.
Firefighters on the scene told CBS46 they believe strong winds combined with rain and soft ground caused the tree to fall.
The mother of the boy was initially trapped by the falling tree but was not injured.
#Breaking: 5-year-old boy was killed when a tree fell into his house just after 5 a.m. on Glenwood Road in DeKalb County. @cbs46 pic.twitter.com/RicUL8PLZC
— Rebekka Schramm (@SchrammCBS46) January 3, 2022
The boy’s body was finally removed from the scene on Monday afternoon.
An arborist who was working on removing the tree on Monday after talked to CBS46.
“There were no rotten spots or dead spots in the tree so it was just an act of God and there’s nothing that we could have done to prevent it,” said Avery Cooks.
Even if the incident was not preventable, there are steps that people can take to reduce the risk of falling trees.
“Take a good survey around your yard and make sure that if you have any trees that are towering over your home or leaning toward your home you have to tend to them because eventually, they will come down,” said Cooks.
Read the original story on CBS46.com.
