‘Frantic’ father rushes dying baby out of home flattened by redwood tree in California

A storm battering California toppled a redwood tree onto a home, killing a baby inside, Sonoma County firefighters told news outlets.

The tree, destabilized by wind and heavy rain, fell onto a home in Occidental at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 5, Fire Chief Ron Lunardi told KRON.

“When I first arrived on scene, a frantic father came out of the house holding the child, he was covered in debris and said, ‘My child is not breathing,’” Lunardi told KPIX.

Lunardi told KTVU that rescue crews could not revive the 1- to 2-year-old child. The baby’s mother and father were unhurt.

Other trees fallen on roads hindered firefighters trying to reach the home, The Press Democrat reported.

“Any time you have a situation like this, especially with a child, people’s emotions are a lot higher,” Lunardi told KPIX. “Lot of people in our department have kids that age.”

Occidental is a community of 1,100 people about 15 miles west of Santa Rosa on the Northern California coast.

This story was originally published January 5, 2023 at 9:50 AM with the headline "‘Frantic’ father rushes dying baby out of home flattened by redwood tree in California."