The owner of a local tree business plummeted at least 12 metres to his death Wednesday (January 20, 2010) morning while felling a tree on Monaghan Rd.
William Robinson, 60, owner of Kawartha Tree Service, was positioned high up in a maple tree when he fell to the ground just before 10:30 a.m., the Ministry of Labour said.
The man’s son and co-worker watched the horrific event unfold.
“I’m devastated. I found him. I was first on scene,” said a shaken Bill Robinson Jr., who began working with his father at 13. “He was always there for me and I was with him during his last breath.”
A homeowner called the company to remove a dangerous tree just south of Weller St., he said.
His father had tied in and made a v-notch up in the tree when something went wrong, Bill said.
“It was actually rotten where he had tied-in, so when the pressure was put on the winch to pull it in the direction of the notch, because it was so rotten, it just kind of snapped off and just fell,” he explained. “He was tied to the piece that fell so it drove him down.”
Mr. Robinson was an experienced arborist who started the family business in 1977, his son said.
The fatal fall would have been hard to foresee, Bill said.
“In that type of situation, you just don’t know if a tree is hollow. That’s the risk you take in this business,” he said.
The Ministry of Labour was called to the scene and is investigating the incident.
Mr. Robinson leaves behind two sons – Nick, 30, and Bill, 40, – and daughter Sheri, 36. He was also a beloved grandfather to Bill’s 13-year-old daughter Myranda, he said.
“He was a great father to me and my brother and sister,” Bill said. “He was a man of few words but the words he spoke we respected and they made us better people. They made us who we are today.”
After the fall, Mr. Robinson was rushed to the Peterborough Regional Health Centre where he died an hour later, Bill said.
He characterized his father as charitable, friendly, an avid hunter and a man who never stopped working.
“He loved his work. If he ever stopped working I think he would have died,” Bill said. “If we weren’t doing tree work he was always on the tractor or fixing up the barn or splitting wood.”
The family is still struggling to cope with Mr. Robinson’s sudden death, Bill said.
“I’ve been crying for hours. I’m a little cried out right now but it will start again,” he said. “I worked with him for 30 years. I will miss him terribly.”
