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Enriquez v. Cochran7/30/1998
volunteers, including Defendant Cochran, were asked to cut down a number of dead trees on Camp Wehinahpay as part of pre-season preparation for summer activities. Two or three of the trees to be felled were approximately sixty feet tall. The tree which eventually injured Plaintiff was an aspen located on a hillside near a power line. The top branches of the dead aspen were intertwined with a nearby live tree. In an attempt to avoid having the tree fall toward, and hit the power line, the volunteers set up a winch and pulley arrangement using Cochran's winch truck. The winch cable was tied to the dead aspen some fifteen to twenty feet above the ground, strung through a pulley attached to another tree opposite the power line, then run down the hill and hooked to Cochran's winch truck located at the bottom of the hill. The truck was located approximately two hundred feet from the dead aspen.
{13} While the men at the tree worked to cut it with chain saws, Cochran stayed at his truck using the winch in an attempt to guide the tree's fall away from the power line. Because of the distance between the tree and the winch truck, Cochran could not see or hear the chain saw operator as he cut the tree. As the tree was being cut, tension was placed on the cable, pulling it in the desired direction of fall. As the tree fell, the top twenty or so feet broke off backwards, toppling into the "safety zone" behind the tree where Plaintiff and other volunteers were standing. The broken piece fell on Plaintiff, causing serious and permanent brain damage and other physical injuries.
{14} None of the volunteers were given any training or provided with any safety equipment before being asked to cut these trees. Some of the workers, including Plaintiff, had never even used a chain saw before the day of the accident.
{15} Dick Davis, who was employed by the Council as the Council Ranger and thus covered by the WCA, was in charge of removing the trees on the day Plaintiff was injured. The crew took their instructions from him, including where to stand as he cut the tree using the chain saw. It was Davis who told Cochran how to set up the pulley and cable arrangements described above.
{16} In addition, Davis conducted the pre-opening inspection and identified the dead trees which needed to be cut down. It is uncontradicted that no BSA employees were present as the tree cutting operation proceeded the day Plaintiff was injured. Thus, BSA had no direct or specific knowledge as of May 16, 1992, that Plaintiff and the others would be cutting down the particular tree that injured Plaintiff.
{17} The pre-opening camp inspection was conducted in accordance with BSA policy setting national standards for Boy Scout Resident Camps. BSA pre-opening guidelines and check lists provide a uniform program of inspection and set minimum standards for BSA accredited facilities. Local Councils are free to impose higher standards if they desire. The inspection protocol included checking for " anger from falling limbs or trees[.]" The BSA national standards included, as part of general camp items, inspection for the following: "Campgrounds, program areas, and camp facilities are clean, neat, and free from hazards. Hazardous dead trees or limbs, especially those near inhabited areas, trails, and electric lines, have been removed." Completed checklists are sent to the applicable regional service center along with the Council's "Application for Operating a Resident Scout Camp." Items found to be deficient must be corrected before camp opens. Failure to comply with camp safety guidelines can result in failure of accreditation, disapproval of the camp for scout activities and, finally, termination of a Council
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