1-year-old pinned after redwood tree crashes onto home, California firefighters say

A redwood tree toppled by high winds fell onto a home in the Santa Cruz Mountains, badly injuring a 1-year-old child inside, California firefighters told news outlets.

Winds broke off the top of a redwood tree, which “speared” the Boulder Creek home about 6:25 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, firefighters told KGO.

The fallen tree pinned a 1-year-old boy inside the home, KSBW reported.

“The patient wasn’t going to be able to be removed without removing that tree, so we had crews on top of the roof and inside the structure, in the living room, where they were ultimately cutting away that weight and removing that off the patient,” Boulder Creek Fire District Chief Mark Bingham told the station.

The child was taken to a hospital in critical condition, KRON reported. Four other people inside the home at the time were not injured.

Strong winds brought down trees across the San Francisco Bay Area, the station reported.

Boulder Creek is a community of 5,000 people about 15 miles north of Santa Cruz.

This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 10:41 AM with the headline "1-year-old pinned after redwood tree crashes onto home, California firefighters say."