After a 39-year-old Escondido man was killed Monday trimming a palm tree in Bonita, NBC 7 decided to take a deeper look into the world of tree trimmers.
While climbing a pole, tree trimming instructor Javier Quiroz walked us through the hazards of pruning palm tree fronds.
“They'll just bury you and it's hard for the fire department or anyone to find you because you’re sucked in so tight, it just closes on you," Quiroz said, explaining the specific dangers of trimming palm trees.
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After more than 40 years in the industry, and as the head of the local United Tree Climbers Association, he's heard too many deadly horror stories.
For him, the recent death of Bardomiano Bautista-Perez on Monday hits close to home.
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"We have tree climbing competitions and he was one of our competitors in Escondido," said Quiroz.
Quiroz said the 39-year-old husband and father who suffocated to death after fronds fell on him while trimming a tree in Bonita took one of his classes.
"It hurts us a lot because it’s a big brotherhood, especially if you have a guy that was in your class," he said.
Quiroz and fellow instructor Martin Morales showed NBC 7 how trimmers can use an air cannon with 120 pounds of pressure to shoot a lightweight guiding line, with a weight at the end, over the 70 to 100-foot towering trees.
“You can't shoot your regular climbing line. You have to use a smaller line and once it gets to other side, you attach the regular climbing line and pull it over,” explained Quiroz.
According to the trainers, trimmers wear foot spikes and harnesses, similar to mountain climbers, so they can attach to ropes and climb on the outside of the fronds where it’s safer.
Though they can't speak to the details of the accident that killed Bautista-Perez, Quiroz showed pictures of how some trimmers decide to climb up the tree, through the fronds.
As a trimmer prunes the tree on their way up, rotten fronds no longer have support and collapse, Quiroz said.
"That material can come on top of you and break your back, or all the weight will be on your neck and you'll be suffocated," he explained.
In California, 68 tree trimmers died on the job between 2011 and 2021, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sixty-one of them identify as Hispanic or Latino.
Quiroz says his own near death experience triggered a shift in how he approaches tree trimming.
“I felt the whole thing coming on top of me and it felt like an earthquake … you can’t breathe," he said.
Decades later at age of 60, Quiroz said he always plays it safe and urges others to do the same.
