70° CLOUDY, 1 dies when limb hits truck
Last Modified: Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 10:49 p.m.
A Sheffield man was killed and his brother was injured when a huge tree limb was blown from a tree and fell on their truck Sunday morning as they were driving through Tuscumbia, authorities said.
Officials with Tuscumbia police said the accident happened at 9:56 a.m. on Sixth Street.
Police identified the victim as 34-year-old Daryl Sizemore, Pickwick Street, Sheffield.
Sizemore was pronounced dead at the scene by Colbert Coroner Carlton Utley at 10:53 a.m.
Utley said Sizemore died from blunt force trauma to the head.
His brother, 20-year-old Brent Sizemore, Evelyn Street, Tuscumbia, was injured.
Emergency personnel at the scene said Brent Sizemore was taken from the scene to Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in Florence by Keller Ambulance.
Tuscumbia Police said Brent Sizemore was then taken to Huntsville Hospital.
Tuscumbia Police investigator Sgt. Stuart Setliff said the accident happened in front of 408 E. Sixth Street.
He said Daryl Sizemore was a passenger in the 1976 Chevrolet truck driven by his brother.
Setliff said the brothers were traveling west on Sixth Street when the limb fell about 70 feet from a tree and hit the cab of the truck.
Setliff said once the limb hit the truck, the vehicle continued to travel down Sixth street.
Authorities said the truck went over a curb, through a yard and eventually stopped between residences at 401 and 403 E. Sixth Street after going through bushes.
Emergency personnel at the scene said the impact of the limb crushed the truck cab to the point that it was nearly flush with the hood.
Mike Melton, director of the Colbert County Emergency Management Agency, said the limb likely broke from strong winds that were blowing through the area at the time.
According to the National Weather Service in Huntsville, at the time of the accident, there were gusting winds of 30-40 mph in the area.
Emergency officials at the scene said the brothers were trying to repair damage to Daryl Sizemore's house from a large tree that fell in his yard Saturday night.
The accident is under investigation by the Tuscumbia Police Department.
Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.
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Comments
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May 12, 2008 8:58:55 am
RE: http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20.../NEWS/805120317/1011
The people of the Shoals are blessed to live in an area that has many older neighborhoods. Along with the older neighborhoods are beautiful old trees. There is nothing more aesthetic than driving down a tree-lined street on a hot summer day with the huge limbs of the trees hanging over the street forming a shaded passageway out of the sun, but when the weather turns foul this beautiful scene turns treacherous and sometimes deadly. This was the case Sunday morning 5/11/08. High winds, and possibly a remnant the bad weather from the night before brought down a huge tree limb on the vehicle Daryl and Brent Sizemore were traveling in. Daryl was killed instantly, and Brent was air lifted to Huntsville Hospital. Several years ago after an ice storm a tree limb struck an UNA student. The student was driving down a street in Florence when the tree limb struck her. The accident left her in a coma for some time after the accident, but she did survive. This type of accident is completely unnecessary, and preventable! How can this be accomplished? Cut the **** trees or at least trim back the limbs from hanging over the street.
May 12, 2008 9:12:31 am
no way!
May 12, 2008 9:57:06 am
I can agree with what you are saying about trimming the trees back every year,,,, it makes them prettier for one thing.... for another thing,,,, that girl that was Miss UNA that got hit back a few years ago would agree to the trimming too I think..........
May 12, 2008 10:05:34 am
A tree can be properly pruned during it's growth. If you go cutting the limbs off as you are suggesting, you are giving the tree a death warrant. You had might as well cut the trees down if you are going to cut it's limbs off!
May 12, 2008 10:20:34 am
Well, I live just a couple of blocks where the accident happened yesterday and just recently Tuscumbia did cut back tree limbs that were overhanging over 6th street. They also cut away dead limbs within the trees. This was a freak accident that happened due to strong winds. The only way to insure that this kind of thing would not happen again is to cut down all of the trees and I really don't think that is going to happen. God be with the Sizemore family.
May 12, 2008 11:26:44 am
Would any of you be willing to trade your son, daughter, wife, husband, or significant other for a tree?
May 12, 2008 12:01:58 pm
Honestly, you can cut the trees back, cut them down, or leave them alone... It isn't going to make a difference. When God's ready for you to go then nothing we can do is going to stop that. I understand, however, where you are coming from. I graduated with Brent, and it is very tragic what happened to his brother.. and him. But even if they were sitting at home watching TV, if it was his time to go... God works in mysterious way, though. I just hope their mother, Debra, will stay strong and trust that God will bring her through this.
May 12, 2008 1:44:52 pm
According to calliebeth012 there is no hope, we are all born with a predestined time when we will all cash in our chips. Iâ??ve seen the car tags referring to the rapture when all Christians are transported into the spiritual realm. I believe in Jesus Christ, but I also believe he gives each of us our lives to live as we so desire. If we make poor and foolish decisions sometimes we have to pay for our mistakes with our lives. An example of this is DUI (driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol). Another example is careless sex and IV drug use (HIV/AIDS), and one last example risk takers, people who risk their lives for no good reason. I donâ??t believe God would take a man away from his wife and children for going to Lowes to pick up parts to repair his house! Let me rephrase my last sentence, my god would not take a man away from his wife and children for going to Lowes to pick up parts to repair his house!
May 12, 2008 2:00:13 pm
Amen brother
May 12, 2008 2:18:04 pm
mother-in-law joke removed
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