A water cooler stopped a fallen tree from crushing a man in a parked van near Prescott, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The man and his dog were unharmed.
Deputies responded the afternoon of Oct. 11 after a tree fell through the roof of the van parked in the Prescott National Forest, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Paul Wick said.
The man, who is in his 40s, was in the driver’s seat when the tree fell and called 911 himself, Wick said.
A photo deputies shared showed an orange, barrel-shaped water cooler bracing against the van’s buckled roof.
The cooler took the brunt of the impact and stopped the tree inches from the driver, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies found the man and dog uninjured, but
the agency described the van as a total loss.
The fallen tree’s visible branches were bare, with no green needles, while surrounding trees had green foliage.
The Sheriff’s Office urged campers and drivers to avoid parking or camping beneath large, dead or leaning trees, especially during high winds, adding that saturated soil can make falling trees an unpredictable hazard.
Prescott’s Love Field recorded wind gusts of 37 mph at 1 p.m. Oct. 11 and 31 mph shortly before 4 p.m., according to preliminary National Weather Service observations. The airport also recorded a quarter inch of rain in the six hours ending shortly before 5 p.m.
Winds were high that day, and the Sheriff’s Office said it knew of no human involvement in the tree’s fall.
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Rey Covarrubias Jr. is a reporter for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Email him at: rcovarrubias@azcentral.com, and connect with him on Instagram, Threads, Bluesky and X (formerly Twitter) at @ReyCJrAZ.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Man and dog escape injury after tree crushes van near Prescott
