By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A 28-year-old Rochester resident was killed in a logging accident yesterday morning in Cowlitz County
The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office reports deputies and aid called about 9 a.m. to the site roughly two miles west of Cougar learned that Kyle M. Schlesser died instantly when he was struck by a falling tree.
Schlesser and his partner, 43-year-old Owen Fickett of Onalaska, were falling separate trees when it happened, according to the sheriff’s office.
Fickett said he called out prior to dropping his tree to make sure Schlesser knew, and that the tree Fickett dropped hit a second tree which fell onto Schlesser.
The sheriff’s office said in a news release all indications are it was a very tragic accident.
Deputies were told Fickett has 23 years of logging experience without ever causing injury to himself or others. Schlesser has been logging nine years, the sheriff’s office stated.
He is the son of the owner of the logging company, James Schlesser, according to Chief Criminal Deputy Charlie Rozenzweig.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
It’s stories like this that remind me exactly why when every Tom Dick and Harry knocks on my door offerring to cut down my dangerous trees on the cheap or for the wood, I turn them down every time. It’s a scary business and I don’t want to be responsible for someone hurting themselves on my property.
Yes, BobbyinLC. Very true. Seems we never go too long without hearing about a logging accident. Such a dangerous line of work, even for those who are very experienced.
My thoughts also are with Kyle Schlesser’s family.
This is a tragic case that just shows that even with mrdern technological advances logging is still a very dangerous business.
I’m getting very tired of people using terrible tragedies to peddle their religions. Falwell trying to blame the tornadoes on heathens is the icing on the cake.
This is a real tragedy thst affects real people in a very real way. Pray for them if you like, pray for me if you like. But please stop using peoples pain as a way to further your personal cause. To me its as offensive as if you came on here trying to sell Amway. Not everyone feels as you do about your god, perhaps not even the family who is suffering. Have some respect, please.
My heart goes out to the family and coworkers of Mr. Schlesser.
When did this turn into a revival?
Amen
I know that we all live in this logging community together, but it seems that there have been more accidents in the last year than in the last 10. Might be that we didn’t have sirens for those nine years, but still….
Life is precious, there is no promise of tomorrow.
Imagine you have been asked to preach the gospel to 1,000 people on the 100th floor of the World Trade Center the night before 9/11, or that you are one of those 1,000 people that will listen to the speaker. Within 24 hours every person in the room will die a death so horrific it defies human imagination. Many will be burned alive. Others will jump 100 stories to their deaths on the unforgiving sidewalks of New York. Others will fall with the building and be so crushed that their bodies will never be recovered. What could you going to tell them—that God has a wonderful plan for their lives? You can’t say that to people who are about to die! Instead you would soberly tell them that it’s appointed to man once to die and after this, the judgment. You would tell them that God is holy, that He will judge them by His perfect Law, that Hell is very real and that they desperately need a Savior. You would tell them that they could die within 24 hours, and plead with them to repent and trust alone in Jesus. Every day 150,000 people throughout this world pass into death, many of whom will die in terrible ways—through horrific car accidents and through the suffering of cancer. Don’t go into eternity not knowing where you’ll end up.