Tree clearing company calls equipment ‘dangerous’ after metal object hit Kitchener home
New questions are being raised about the equipment that sent a chunk of metal flying through the air and into a Kitchener, Ont. home, missing the homeowner’s head by mere inches.
Robert Caluian was brushing his teeth Monday morning when the object crashed through his roof and landed in his washroom.
“It was like a jump scare. I just heard a loud sound,” he told CTV News on Thursday.
Caluian lives near Chicopee Ski & Summer Resort, which is currently undergoing an expansion. Part of that work includes clearing trees from parts of the property near Fairway Road North.
Chicopee CEO Bill Creighton said he spoke to his contractor doing that work and believes a tooth from a tree grinding machine broke off and went flying across a row of houses.
He described the equipment as a disc mulcher attachment that was put on an excavator.
“It's like a circular cheese grinder that, on the tree, would just grind it up,” he said in an interview on Thursday. “In his 40 years of being an operator, he's never experienced anything like this. He's actually very distraught.”
The contractor was not available to speak to CTV News.
Creighton said they were both still in shock.
“The thing about Chicopee is we're all about safety,” he added. “We put people in the air for skiing. So to have something happen in the off season of this strange nature is totally bizarre for us.”
Another company weighs in
Rayzor Edge Tree Services, based out of Elmira, is not involved in the resort’s expansion but they’re familiar with disc mulchers. Owner Ray Bowman said it is not illegal to use those attachments, though his company chooses not to.
“It's a very it's a dangerous mulcher to use,” Bowman told CTV News on Friday.
Instead, his company uses a drum mulcher that has a deflector or door you can pull down.
An example of a drum mulcher, this one owned by Rayzor Edge Tree Services in Elmira. (Heather Senoran/CTV Kitchener)
“The only purpose of that deflector is to keep the debris from flying out the front and having something like this happening,” he said.
According to Bowman, it isn’t uncommon for debris to be thrown without a door blocking it, but thinks a metal tooth breaking off would only happen in “extreme conditions.”
“It's a four-foot wide disc spinning at 2 to 3,000 r.p.ms. If something gets going with that disk and then lets go, it will fly over quite a distance for sure,” he said.
What’s next
Chicopee has apologized to the family and said the contractor is willing to pay for repairs to their home. Caluian said he’s grateful for the apology and feels lucky to be alive.
Tree clearing has been happening at Chicopee for the last few weeks and work is expected to wrap up in the next few days.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Freeland previews omnibus budget bill, proposed capital gains tax change left out
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation is the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
McGill requests 'police assistance' over pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University says it has 'requested police assistance' about the pro-Palestinian encampment on its lower field.
Judge raises threat of jail in hush money trial as he holds Trump in contempt, fines him US$9,000
Donald Trump was held in contempt of court Tuesday and fined US$9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case. And if he does it again, the judge warned, he could be jailed.
Court upholds Milwaukee police officer's firing for posting racist memes after Sterling Brown arrest
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a former Milwaukee police officer was properly fired for posting racist memes related to the arrest of an NBA player that triggered a public outcry.
Video captures deadly wrong-way police chase on Highway 401 in Ontario
A new video has surfaced showing a vehicle being pursued by police in the wrong direction on Highway 401 moments prior to a fatal crash that killed four people, including an infant and their grandparents.
New cancer treatment approved, but not everyone thinks it's what's best for patients
A new cancer treatment recently approved in Canada promises to cut treatment time down to just minutes, but experts have differing opinions on whether it's what's best for patients.