2-Year-Old Boy Killed After Redwood Tree Falls on Home During Powerful Storm in California

Jason Duaine Hahn
·3 min read
6
January 2, 2023, Sacramento County, California, USA: Flooded homes are seen in Point Pleasant, California, on Monday, as an evacuation order for residents in Point Pleasant and a shelter-in-place order for those in Wilton remained in effect. A historic atmospheric river dumped a deluge of rain across Northern California in the final days of 2022. The Cosumnes River swelled to its highest level ever in history on Sunday and parts of Sacramento County flooded.

Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee via ZUMA Press Wire

A 2-year-old boy was killed in California on Wednesday night when a soaking wet redwood tree toppled over onto his family's mobile home, according to local reports.

The boy's death comes amid a massive storm that has brought rains and floods to much of the state over the last week.

"One of our major incidents we've had involved a redwood tree falling on a house … and we had a fatality up there of a minor -- infant, actually," Occidental Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ron Lunardi said, according to ABC News.

According to The Los Angeles Times, when officers responded to a report about a fallen tree, Sgt. Juan Valencia of the Sonoma County Sherriff's Office said they found that "the tree landed on a 2-year-old boy that was sitting in the living room on a couch."

RELATED: Woman, 22, Dies After Getting Trapped in Her Car for 18 Hours During Blizzard: 'She Was Scared'

Lunardi told ABC News that when authorities arrived, a "frantic father came out" holding the child.

"He was kind of covered in debris, and he said my child is not breathing," he told the outlet. "We are in a rural location out here, so my first thought was to get him into my truck and let's get him out to the main road because he is on a long dirt driveway."

"I got the father into the truck. As I was backing up down the driveway in reverse, I was giving him instructions to breathe his child for him, and as we did, we got back out to the main road, where I met the rescue squad, and they immediately grabbed the child from the father and started CPR and waited for the paramedics to get there," he added.

Despite their efforts, the boy did not survive his injuries.

The boy's parents were uninjured, FOX affiliate KTTV reported.

The Press Democrat reported that fallen trees made it difficult for firefighters to reach the home. Rescuers also couldn't use helicopters due to the weather, Lunardi said per CBS News.

RELATED: Michigan Doctor Found Dead Under Ice of Frozen Pond 5 Days After Going Missing

Occidental is home to about 1,100 people, according to the Sacramento Bee, and is located about 65 miles north of San Francisco.

At least one other person has died as a result of the storm, which is part of a series of storms being driven by an atmospheric river, CBS News reported.

RELATED VIDEO: Buffalo Mom Calls Target Employees 'Life Savers' for Sheltering Her Family During Blizzard

A 19-year-old woman was killed in Fairfield when he vehicle hydroplaned and hit a utility pole on a partial flood road, the outlet said, citing police.

On Wednesday, California governor Gavin Newsom declared a State of Emergency in response to the storm.

"This proclamation will allow the state to respond quickly as the storm develops and support locals in their ongoing response," the governor's office said, per the Sacramento Bee. "We anticipate that this may be one of the most challenging and impactful series of storms to touch down in California in the last five years."