A large tree fell through a house Thursday afternoon in Kensington, Maryland, prompting the rescue of a man trapped on the second floor.
Just before 2 p.m., Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesperson Pete Piringer tweeted about the incident in the 10200 block of Parkwood Drive.
He said that a family of six, including two adults and four kids, was inside the home at the time. A woman and the four kids got out fine, but the man was trapped on the second floor.
The man was not seriously hurt; Piringer said the man was underneath the trunk of the tree when it crashed through the house. The house had “pretty significant structural damage,” he added.
The rescue crews needed to stabilize the house before the man could be rescued.
When Piringer tweeted video of first responders mid-rescue, he also showed the large tree that had fallen from the backyard, collapsing into the roof of the home. Around 65 firefighters were on the scene, including the department’s technical rescue team, Piringer said.
It was a blustery afternoon around the region; after the threat of severe thunderstorms had passed, the National Weather Service said “winds will continue to gust up to 45-55 mph for the rest of the afternoon.”
Trees were falling elsewhere in the county, damaging telephone poles and closing streets. A large tree also fell through a house in Chevy Chase just before 3 p.m., but Piringer said there were no injuries.
See Piringer’s videos from Thursday afternoon:
More /Parkwood Dr, Kensington, large tree on house with entrapment https://t.co/D4VIAuGF2O
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) April 9, 2020
Technical Rescue- tree on House Parkwood Drive, Kensington, resident trapped on second floor https://t.co/idP2j79vy2
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) April 9, 2020
Here’s a map of where the tree fell:
WTOP’s Dan Friedell contributed to this report.
