A five-story-tall tree fell on a group of children playing near the Kidspace Children’s Museum in Pasadena Tuesday, critically injuring three of them.
Five other children suffered minor injuries, according to the Pasadena Fire Department.
The tree fell shortly before 5 p.m. near the museum at 480 N. Arroyo Blvd., near the Rose Bowl.
Michael Shanklin, CEO of the Kidspace Museum, told ABC7 the children were waiting to be picked up by their parents after attending a camp.
“The summer camp was at the end of the day during pickup,” Shanklin said. “Some parents had been there to pick up their children, others were on the way. When I received word that there was a tree that fell over and some of the Kidspace children … were affected by the tree falling, we got staff on site immediately to clear the scene, get children out of harm’s way. And at that point we got a headcount and ensured that we did have accountability for all children, and that’s really when the first responders — who did a fabulous job — arrived on scene.”
A witness told Channel 7 he heard the tree crack and fall and saw children scrambling away, and heard some screaming for help.
Fire crews and members of an urban search and rescue team used chain saws to cut through the tree limbs to ensure nobody was trapped under the fallen tree.
Shanklin, who said the tree was in a nearby park and not on the museum’s property, said the museum would be open for business Wednesday.
“You never plan on something like this to happen, but you know, for any of the children that were affected — whether an injury or just being scared – – safety’s our first value,” he told ABC7. “So I’m proud of the way the local authorities reacted and I’m proud of the way our team reacted to a really unfortunate situation.”
— City News Service