THE SKY IS FALLING

A tree fell Monday morning in Burton, injuring a driver as she was pulling out of her driveway. Just past 11 a.m., the Burton Fire District and Beaufort County EMS responded to a medical emergency on County Shed Rd. Firefighters arrived on scene and quickly discovered that as a female driver was leaving her driveway in her vehicle, a tree fell, sending a limb through her windshield causing her injury, which appeared to be non-life threatening. Since April, the Burton Fire District has responded to several emergency calls resulting from trees and limbs falling and damaging property, including a tree that fell on a home in August causing heavy damage and displacing a family of nine. Burton Fire District officials remind citizens that these weather-related incidents were not caused by tropical storm or hurricane-force winds but routine storms. Officials advise residents to secure or remove loose yard debris and trees or branches that threaten their home. If such trees or limbs cannot be removed, then avoid those areas of the home in weather conditions, and consider that risk when deciding whether to evacuate during storm warnings. Photo by Burton Fire District.