Falling tree crushes woman at campground

By KATU Web Staff Published: Dec 17, 2007 at 4:22 PM PST Last Updated: Dec 18, 2007 at 9:11 AM PST
Falling tree crushes woman at campground »Play Video
Photos courtesy of the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

GRAND RONDE, Ore. - A Lyons woman was killed early Monday when a huge tree fell on her truck and camper at a Grand Ronde campground, police said.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office identified the woman as 50-year-old Julie Mae Williams, who was killed a day before her 51st birthday.

According to the sheriff's office, Williams is a dump truck driver who was staying at the campground because she was scheduled to work all week in the Grand Ronde area.

The tree, which measured about 11 feet in diameter but had been previously cut to a height of about 20 feet, crushed the camper she was in about midnight at the Wandering Spirit RV Park, the sheriff's office said.

Authorities blamed recent rains that saturated the soil around the tree for possibly causing the tree roots to give way and the tree to fall on its own. It was being used as a light pole in the campground.

The woman's husband, Danny R. Burroughs, was notified of the accident.