Family will have a hard time coping with this one

[schmalts]

I didnt know him but have freinds that did. This really bothered me..

MOUNT PLEASANT - A Kenosha man is dead after getting sucked into a wood chipper.

Thirty-year-old Jeremiah Sanders, the owner of J's Quality Tree Service, was killed Tuesday at a home he was working at in Pleasant Prairie.

Sanders got caught in the chipper after using his foot to free a log that had gotten jammed.

Sanders' nephew, Adam Sanders heard his uncle's cries for help. "I had to hear him say help me, help me, come and help me and the sounds of him being chipped up."

Sanders' co-workers desperately tried to stop the chipper and even put it in reverse, but it didn't work.

"As I was trying to hit the reverse I looked down and he (Sanders) was up to his ribs and I turned around, I couldn't watch and listen no more, I had to get out of there," Adam said.

"It seemed like forever but the chipping experience I have to say it probably took about 7 seconds and it had to be the worse way to die."

A tearful James Bennett saw the terrible accident happen on his property in Pleasant Prairie.

"All of sudden he started going in and I started yelling, 'Stop the machine, stop the machine!' They couldn't hear me. He just went right in and then I came running up to tell my wife."

Jeremiah Sanders had two daughters and a baby on the way.

The Sander' family has set up a fund for his children at the First Banking Center in Kenosha. To help out call 262-657-9110.

"He was a good hearted brother and he always helped people out," says William Sanders, Jeremiah's brother.

OSHA is investigating why the reverse bar on the wood chipper did not work.

 

[schmalts]

WISCONSIN-- The brother of a man killed when he was pulled through a wood chipper said Wednesday that carelessness and faulty equipment were to blame for the tragic accident.
Jeremiah Sanders, owner of J's Quality Tree Service, was pulled into a large industrial wood chipper Tuesday afternoon in Pleasant Prairie when he attempted to free a log jammed in the machine. Pleasant Prairie police spokesman Pete Jung said Sanders was pulled all the way through the chipper while co-workers tried unsuccessfully to stop the machine.

James Bennett, who had hired Sanders to clear branches out of his backyard in the 8900 block of 26th Ave. and witnessed the entire accident, said he couldn't believe how fast it happened.

"Shut it off! Shut it off!" the 81-year-old had yelled when he saw the machine grab Sanders' foot.

But, he said, the ordeal was over 20 seconds later.

Randolph Sanders said his brother's 21-year-old nephew was one of five crewmen trying to stop the machine. The nephew told him that the safety bar that is supposed to reverse the chipper's teeth failed to engage.

"There's almost eight feet of bar there to grab," Randolph Sanders said. "Jeremiah and his nephew were both pushing on the bar at one point, but it wouldn't reverse."

Sanders said his brother had just gone into business on his own last year and was using borrowed, unfamiliar equipment.

Jeremiah Sanders was the youngest son in a family of 11 brothers and sisters, all of whom live in Kenosha, his brother said. The avid duck and goose hunter had two daughters, ages 4 and 7, and another child on the way.

Sanders said that, especially for the sake of the children, he had reminded his brother often to be safer around wood chippers.

"It was stupid of him to put his foot in there, but the machine shouldn't have been there, either," Randolph Sanders said, adding that he hopes the accident compels someone to enforce yearly inspections of such equipment.

Occupational Safety & Health Administration officials would only say they were still investigating the accident, but another local tree serviceman said newer chippers, such as the one approved for 15-inch-diameter logs that Sanders was operating, are relatively safe because feed rollers can be quickly reversed.

Jeff Michaud, who runs Reliable Tree Service in Kenosha County, also said Sanders wasn't doing anything others in the tree service industry haven't done while on the job.

"If someone in this business says they haven't used their foot to free a log, they'd be lying," Michaud said.

 

[Oak]

That happened here last fall. It's pretty amazing how frequently it happens, actually.

 

[Delw]

Sorry if this offends anyone, but your an idiot to put your foot into any type of auger. then blaming it on the machine your an absolute idiot.

Most uf us have worked with dangerous equipment, you have to have some common sence to operate it, only doing stupid shit will get you hurt, operating it properly will not get you hurt.

 

[Trent]

Sanders said his brother had just gone into business on his own last year and was using borrowed, unfamiliar equipment?

I to agree with Delw, Sad to read and hear but there is saftey then there isn't. weather the reverse work or not the guy new what he was doing was wrong.Just the same my respect go out to the family in there time of greef.

 

[danr55]

What Del said!

 

[iminrut]

That's like every year you here some farmer getting killed in a baler or a combine.....farmk equipment plugs up and they reach in while it's running to try and unplug it.............shut the dang equipment down, and do it safely.....

I feel horrible for the family, especially those that had to witness it.....but this was a senseless loss.....one that could have easily been avoided....

 

[schmalts]

I feel so bad for the guys who were there more than the guy that got chipped. That memory can mess someone up for a lifetime. Damn that had to be just the most horrible thing to see happen. I cant help but wonder what the guys was thinking as he was going through. It happened so fast that you know he was probably seeing it all up until the end.....

 

[wilecoyote76]

Hey, wasn't there a scene in the movie "FARGO" that had something to do with a wood chipper?

 

[Ithaca 37]

Yeah, but that guy was already dead. Great movie!

 

[A-con]

I was just thinking of Frago myself, it was a great movie.

Really feel bad for this guys wife & kids. Man, imagine going to school and being the kid whose dad was smart enough to stick his foot into a chipper. The only thing worse than having your pop die in a horrible accident would be getting teased about it.

 

[ringer]

They would just say he was a "chip off the old block".

 

[Bambistew]

Dang it you beat me to the punch...

His job was such a.... grind.

 

[ringer]

Cold, very cold. I feel for the family but just have a sick assed sense of humour.

 

[MNHunter]

I have a friend who was clearing brush for a neighbor and there was a chain in the brush. It wrapped around his leg and dragged him into the chipper. He lost his lower leg and we call him.......chip! He HATES that nickname.

 

[Moosie]

Man that sucks so bad I can't even Joke about it....... Gawg dammmmm that would suck !!!! Supid or not... jsut would suck !!!

I've done done things while cutting down trees, limbing them and reaching a little far out..... The older I get the More I wear Panties instead of briefs !!! (Ok, I'm guessing there's more jokes for that one too ... )