A 27-year-old Victorian man has died following the collapse of a gumtree at a camping ground in the state’s high country.
Police said emergency services responded on Saturday morning to reports a tree had fallen on a tent and vehicle in Kevington, a remote area about half an hour’s drive from the town of Mansfield.
Paramedics, firefighters and the SES rushed to Burnt Bridge Camping Ground near Eildon-Jamieson Road about 3am but the man from Bayles, south-east of Melbourne, had died at the scene, police said.
First lieutenant from the Jamieson fire brigade, Steve Garito attended the scene, arriving a few minutes after paramedics with five other firefighters, as well as two SES vehicles.
“The poor chap… unfortunately a large white gum a metre in diameter had snapped off at the base,” he said.
“Very unlucky”.
Mr Garito said the tree fell on the young man, who was in a swag with a little tent beside it, and his car.
The man had been camping with two friends who had been just a few metres away and were “very lucky” not to have been hurt by the “massive” tree, Mr Garito said.
“We had strong winds and a big rain event the day before — whether that had compromised the tree I don’t know,” Mr Garito said.
“It’s just a very, very sad circumstance.”
He said CFA firefighters were trained about the danger of falling trees — that branches could drop at any time, on still or windy days.
“Trees do fall just out of the blue. Gumtrees are renowned for that,” he said.
Mr Garito said the campers hadn’t been doing anything wrong and were “just camping”.
The death is not being treated as suspicious and police will prepare a report for the coroner.
