Staff Report
The Daily Star
---- — A Cherry Valley man was killed Tuesday when a tree fell on him while he cut firewood.
Robert Lusk, 66, of Van Derwerker Road, was pronounced dead from massive internal injuries at the scene, about three-tenths of a mile into nearby woods.
Lusk, who was alone at the time of the accident, apparently was struck from behind and pinned underneath a maple tree that he had already cut, but that had become hung up, said Michael Ten Eyck, a senior investigator for the Otsego County Sheriff’s Office.
Lusk, who was cutting firewood, had turned his attention to other logs when the maple fell, Ten Eyck said.
A neighbor found Lusk and called 911, Ten Eyck said.
He estimated that deputies handle a wood-cutting fatality every year to year and a half.
The Cherry Valley Fire Department and Emergency Squad responded to the scene, along with sheriff’s deputies and County Coroner Michael Fox Jr.
