A City of Atlanta employee who was months from retirement was killed Monday morning when a tree fell on him in northwest Atlanta, a fire spokesman said.
Donald Rembert was cutting down a tree limb in the 2000 block of Springlake Drive, Atlanta Fire Rescue spokesman Cortez Stafford told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The limb fell on Rembert, knocking him from the cherry picker he was in, Stafford said. He died on the scene.
“Donald served the city of Atlanta for 29 years, and worked most recently with the forestry team in the Department of Parks and Recreation,” Mayor Kasim Reed said in a statement. “His loss is made more tragic with the knowledge that he was only a few months away from retirement.”
Springlake Drive and Northside Drive, which were shut down after the incident, have reopened, Stafford said.
The city will conduct a thorough investigation to determine exactly what happened, Reed said.
“I have directed the members of my cabinet to conduct trainings over the next several weeks in order to remind all staff of safety protocols for their department and work duties,” the mayor said. “The safety and security of our employees and the public is always our number one priority.”
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