Falling tree injures two students

Emergency crews assist a student who was hit by a falling tree on campus. DTH/Will Cooper

The large pin oak tree that plummeted to the ground Monday, hitting two students and sending one to the hospital, was still sporting healthy green foliage.

But inside, the trunk was rotten and decayed.

“It was just a tree at the end of its life,” said University Forest Manager Thomas Bythell.

The tree fell near Mitchell Hall Monday at about 1:45 p.m., minutes before hundreds of students were due to leave classes. One of the students was taken to UNC Hospitals to be treated for minor injuries.

The other student, senior Sheri Singerling, scraped her arm. She said she was riding her bike to class when she heard a crack and saw the tree begin to fall.

“I heard it like a crack and looked up and it was falling,” Singerling said. “I didn’t have time to react.”

Singerling said the other girl hit by the tree was walking the opposite direction on the path. That woman, who has not yet been identified, was taken to UNC Hospitals by ambulance.

The second victim was alert and responsive after the incident, said Randy Young, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.

Sidewalks and one lane of traffic on South Columbia Street were blocked for nearly an hour by branches and foliage.

Bythell couldn’t say the tree’s age exactly — he said they were waiting on a bigger saw — but he estimated its age to be between 80 and 90 years old.

Ambulance crews, firefighters and Department of Public Safety officers arrived within minutes, and UNC Grounds Department began to clear the area.

By 2:45 p.m., the street and sidewalks were mostly clear of debris, but Bythell said that the Grounds Department plans to complete the removal process beginning tomorrow morning.

The tree’s uprooting drew a crowd of onlookers from nearby classrooms and fraternity houses.

Erica Spivey, a junior, was nearby when she heard a resounding crack.

“I just turned around, and I saw the tree falling. We heard a girl scream,” she said.



University Editor Kevin Kiley contributed reporting.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.