8 kids hurt as tree topples

PASADENA, Calif. - A huge, ancient pine tree uprooted and fell onto children at a summer day camp Tuesday, injuring eight children, two of them critically, fire officials said.

The 75-foot-tall, 75-year-old pine crashed without warning about 5 p.m. just outside the Kidspace Children's Museum, city fire spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.

The tree is in Pasadena's Brookside Park, just outside the museum grounds near the Rose Bowl.

"I heard a tree crack and then I turned around and I saw little kids running and then I saw the tree fall on top of the little kids, maybe about five or seven of them," Greg Prodigalidad told KABC-TV.

Tim Scheidler, the museum's marketing manager, said, "It was the end of the day, so there were people gathered outside who were leaving and there was a camp group waiting for pickup by their parents when the tree came down."

Museum staff, firefighters, parents, and police quickly converged on the scene.

Prodigalidad said he and some parents rushed over and began pulling children free of the branches.

The Fire Department dispatched its urban search-and-rescue team to use power tools to cut apart the tree to ensure no one was trapped underneath.

Eight children, ranging from 6 to 8 years old, were injured. Derderian said six were treated at the scene for cuts, bumps, and bruises. Two were taken to a hospital in critical condition, although their conditions could change after doctors evaluate them.

All the children were alert and able to talk, she said.

It was unclear what made the pine topple on a warm, clear summer day with minimal winds.

California is in the midst of a severe drought that has persisted for several years. But it wasn't immediately known if that could have played any role.

"We are bringing out an independent arborist to investigate what could have caused this," Derderian said.