Firefighters were too late to save a tree trimmer in East County whose motionless body dangled dozens of feet above the street on Monday.
When rescuers arrived a little after 4 p.m., the man's motionless body was hanging from rigging dozens of feet above the street near the intersection of Central Avenue and Lamar Street in Spring Valley.
Officials said the man was apparently suffocated as he worked on the tree. The man was believed to have been trapped for 15 minutes prior to firefighters' arrival.
Two hook and ladder trucks -- at least one of which was from the La Mesa Fire Department -- were required to get the man down.
After freeing him from the tree, they strapped him to a backboard and slowly made their way down the extended ladder to the truck, where another half-dozen rescuers carried him to a waiting ambulance.
Rescuers tried to revive the man fro about 15 minutes but were unable to do so, and he was prounounced dead at about 5 p.m.
