A man died Saturday after a tree he was trying to cut down near a stream fell unexpectedly toward nearby power lines, trapping him between the trunk and an excavator in New Lexington. Officers were called to the 500 block of Tile Plant Road for a report of an unresponsive man, and fire and EMS crews began CPR before the victim was pronounced dead at a hospital.
According to the New Lexington Police Department, officers arrived to find the man trapped between the fallen tree and the excavator he had been using. New Lexington Fire and EMS crews worked to free him from the wreckage before continuing life-saving measures during transport, with CPR ongoing throughout the ambulance ride to the hospital. Police have not released the man's identity out of respect for his family.
Investigators say the tree hit the power lines as it came down, then struck the victim as it fell. The department has not said whether the man or the property owner had contacted a utility to de-energize the lines beforehand, nor has it said whether the excavator was electrically energized during the incident — details that remain unclear as the investigation continues.
Storm-Soaked Ground May Have Played a Role
The accident happened just days after severe thunderstorms dumped 4 to 6 inches of rain across Perry County, saturating the ground, toppling trees, and knocking out power across New Lexington and surrounding communities, according to local storm reports. Waterlogged soil can loosen a tree's root anchorage, making felled trees more prone to falling in unpredictable directions — a factor that may help explain why this tree came down toward the power lines rather than away from them.
The New Lexington Police Department is urging residents to use extreme caution around trees, heavy equipment, and electrical lines, especially in the aftermath of severe weather. The warning echoes a broader pattern across East-Central Ohio this month: a day after the New Lexington incident, a 20-year-old man in neighboring Muskingum County was killed by a falling tree during the same round of thunderstorm winds, as Hoodline previously reported.
Federal Rules Govern Work Near Power Lines
Federal workplace safety standards require unqualified workers and heavy machinery to stay at least 10 feet from energized overhead power lines carrying 50 kV or less, according to guidance cited by Premier Tree & Landscaping. Under OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.269, tree work within that 10-foot buffer is only legally permitted for certified line-clearance tree trimmers who have completed specialized electrical hazard training, per Clay Electric Cooperative. It remains unknown whether that certification applied to the work being done in New Lexington.
The dangers illustrated by the New Lexington case are not unique. Contact with overhead power lines caused 42.8% of all workplace electrical fatalities nationwide between 2011 and 2023, according to data from the Electrical Safety Foundation International. Tree care work itself ranks among the most hazardous occupations in the country, averaging 61 fatal injuries annually from 2020 through 2023 — a fatality rate as much as 11 times higher than the national all-industry average, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics figures.
Electricity accounts for roughly 15% of all deaths in tree care work, and nearly half of those electrocutions happen indirectly, when a falling tree, limb, or piece of equipment makes contact with an energized line rather than a worker touching the wire directly, according to safety analyses from Clay Electric Cooperative. That mechanism mirrors what investigators describe in the New Lexington case, where the tree itself struck the lines before striking the victim.
Where the Accident Happened
The 500 block of Tile Plant Road sits within an industrial corridor named for the Ludowici roof tile manufacturing facility, which has operated in Perry County since the 1880s. The same stretch of road is also home to community service organizations, including Helping Hands of Perry County, which distributes meals and assistance to area residents.
It remains unclear whether the man died from blunt-force trauma when the tree struck him or from electrical current after the tree contacted the power lines. Police have not released further details as the investigation continues.
