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Update 2:55 p.m.
Mount Shasta landscape architect Tom Hesseldenz came within a few moments of being struck by a falling tree with a failed root system Thursday afternoon as he was working to reduce fuels in the area behind the Mt. Shasta Resort subdivision.
The falling tree struck a live power line, which immediately started a small fire and knocked out power to more than 2,000 Mt. Shasta area residents – about 500 of which are still in the dark, according to Pacific Power.
Hesseldenz said he was working with a contractor and had walked toward one of the nearby houses to talk with a homeowner when he heard a loud crash, which he first thought was a car accident on South Old Stage. He looked back to see a sizeable tree, about 18 inches in diameter at chest height, had given way in about the same location where he d been headed before being distracted by conversation.