Fronds collapse, kill landscaper, 43, as he works on palm tree

A man died of apparent suffocation Thursday evening after several dead palm fronds fell on him while he was trimming a towering palm tree at a home behind the Boulevard Mall.

Las Vegas police Lt. Les Lane said the dead fronds, the tree skirt, collapsed on him about 6 p.m. Police do not suspect foul play.

A friend identified the man as 43-year-old Carl Barker, an experienced landscaper who had been trimming trees for many years.

"He was a real hard worker," said the woman, who would give only her first name, Shele.

"He would give you the shirt off his back."

As investigators Thursday night left the scene in front of the single-story home on the 1600 block of East Twain Avenue, five three-story palm trees were neatly trimmed. One was not.

Jose Jimenez, a 30-year-old mason worker who was at the park across the street, said he saw Barker rappel up the last tree and begin to work furiously.

He was sweating heavily under the afternoon sun, and Jimenez said the man's wife went to get some water for him.

While she was gone, Jimenez said, Barker became buried under the palm fronds.

"I heard his last words. They were 'oh God, oh God, please help!" Jimenez said.

"His buddy then looked up and said, 'Hey, are you okay up there?' And he got no response."

The man's harness, which had a strap around the tree, prevented him from falling, Jimenez said.

Two ambulances showed up but did not have the equipment to get him down.

Jimenez estimated that it was at least 30 minutes before a firetruck with a tall enough ladder arrived to get him down.

"It was too late. It was already too late," Jimenez said.

Barker had been working on the palm trees all week, said the homeowner, who did not want to give his name.

He said the man had come to him and asked to perform yard work because he needed the money.

"He was desperate today to finish and to get the money," the homeowner said. Palm tree trimmings littered his yard, and a trash bin in the street was filled with dead fronds.

"I'm so sorry for him," the homeowner said.

According to media reports, a 36-year-old tree trimmer in Phoenix died in a similar fashion last month after fronds from a palm tree fell and suffocated him.

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.