Falling Tree Kills Pickup Truck Driver, young passenger unharmed - Video

A falling tree killed a man on Green Valley Road near Rescue Tuesday morning.  Witnesses said the man was taking his passenger to Rescue Elementary School.

While driving westbound on Ponderosa Road at about 8 a.m. a “two-to-three foot tree” fell on the cabin of his white Ford F-150.  He was driving about 40 mph before the crash. The large tree started falling over on the north shoulder as the truck passed, and Van Deventer tried avoiding the oak, police said.

He wasn't successful and the tree crushed the cab and “trapped the occupants inside,” said CHP Officer Quinn Cuthbertson.  Cuthbertson said the driver, identified as 48-year-old Bryan Vandeventer of Shingle Springs, tried to evade the oak as it came down on the north shoulder of the road. A 10-year-old boy in the pick-up survived. Two passersbys saw what happened and pulled the boy out of the truck.

The CHP says the boy was unhurt and was with his mother.

The boy and Vandeventer were not related, Cuthbertson said.

The tree also damaged phone and cable lines, affecting service to AT&T and cable TV customers.

The accident happened in the westbound lane of Green Valley Road near Ponderosa Road at approximately 8 a.m.

Video Here: http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=219694