Two Virginia fathers had a narrow escape when a tree fell on their backyard fire pit.
Home surveillance footage captured the dramatic moment the 40-foot tree fell on April 12 as Chris Johannsen and his friend Chad Day were spending a pleasant evening at one of their homes in Powhatan, about 40 minutes away. of Richmond.
As the two men made s’mores for their children and sipped drinks, they heard a strange noise and ran away just before the tree collapsed to the ground.
“Luckily, (our) wives had gone to the house across the street from us and we sent the kids to watch a movie,” Johannsen said.
“We were enjoying a nice glass of bourbon, when crack, crack and boom.”
Chris Johannsen and his friend Chad Day are seen enjoying a glass of bourbon and making s’mores for their children on April 12, just before a 40-foot tree fell and nearly crushed them.
The massive tree is visible on the sidewalk as it sends sparks into the air. The two dads managed to escape just in time
Fathers Chad Day (left) and Chris Johannsen (right) are relieved to have survived and been able to see their family again.
When the friends heard what sounded “like a bear running through the woods,” they ran for their lives and avoided what would have been a disaster.
Video of the heartbreaking moment begins with Johannsen and Day sitting in chairs on a large patio.
They face the fireplace just before one of them quickly gets up and runs with his drink in his hand, while the other follows right behind him.
As they quickly walked towards the grass, the tree fell right where they were sitting and a loud crash was heard.
When it lands, the fire ignites and sparks fly from the chimney before the tree lands on the sidewalk.
With the tree still on the ground, a child appears near a back door attached to the house and slowly surveys the area as the video ends.
“I heard the sound, and that’s what made me look. It sounded like a bear was going through the woods, it was so loud,” Johannsen told WTVR.
“And I just saw this white tarp sticking out of the ground, and it hit me, ‘This tree is falling.’”
Johannsen is seen pointing out the massive tree with its exposed roots dangling from the ground.
The father isn’t sure why the tree fell, but Day said his friend, seeing the “white tarp,” which later turned out to be a root ball, saved both of their lives. .
Day and Johannsen are grateful to have made it out alive and admitted they were definitely scared by the incident.
“My legs would have been crushed, and then this 30-pound cinder block came loose and landed right where my face was,” Day said.
As they detoured around the falling tree, Day accidentally landed on Johannsen.
“You wake up and you’re like, ‘Did that really happen?'” Johannsen said.
In a Facebook post, Johannsen attributed their escape to someone “watching” him in the sky.
“Someone up there is watching over me. I almost died last night with Chad Dey,” he said.
Johannsen said his father believed it was his late mother who saved him and his friend that night.
“So I definitely think my mom took care of me. It’s not fun to see the tree fall, but it went as smoothly as possible,” Johannsen said.
The fathers are relieved to have made it out alive and to be able to see their family again.
Johannsen said to his knowledge the fallen tree was healthy, but urged others to inspect trees on their property to be safe. (in the photo: the fallen tree crossing the yard)
Day (pictured) and Johannsen are grateful to have made it out alive and admitted they were definitely scared by the incident.
“The fact that we were able to hear their voices again is enough for me,” Day said.
Johannsen said to his knowledge the fallen tree was healthy, but urged others to inspect trees on their property to be safe.
He was seen with the tree after it fell as it showed off its exposed roots which appeared to be lifted from the ground.
‘What if, what if, what if. If the wind was blowing, we wouldn’t have heard the roots cracking and rising.
“If we were playing music, we wouldn’t have heard it,” Johannsen said.
“If the kids had been outside playing and been loud like kids are, we might not have heard it, and then we were all crushed.”
dailymail us
