Like the gruesome scene in the dark comedy “Fargo,” a man was killed after a freak accident sent him into a wood chipper while working. Sadly however, this was no movie.
Martin Lara, 50, was working at a rural home outside Nevada City clearing brush when he was pulled head first into a large industrial wood chipper after a rope became wrapped around his neck while he was feeding wood into it.
Once something is pulled into the machine, it is nearly impossible to pull it out, and the chipper can only be stopped when someone hits the shut-off switch.
The Applegate, California resident is said to had been decapitated by a rope that was going into the machine and not the actual blades of the machine, something that likely makes no difference to his family and friends.
A co-worker attempted to pull Lara out, but fighting the machine made to process full-size trees proved to be futile. The wood chipper was stopped before his body could be pulled all the way into the machine, but the rope had already decapitated and killed him.
The incident, which happened at around 8:15 a.m. Thursday morning, is being called just a freak and tragic accident.
