Woman Killed By Falling Tree in Local State Forest

A woman died and another woman was hospitalized after a tree fell on top of them Monday in the Salmon River State Forest in East Hampton, officials said. 

Dwayne Gardner, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental and Energy Protection, told Patch that DEEP’s Conservation Police (EnCon) were notified of the incident around 2 p.m. and responded promptly. 

Gardner said one of the women was apparently killed while the woman who was injured was rushed to Hartford Hospital where she was treated. He said he did not know her condition. 

The identities of both women could not be released, as Gardner said officials still need to notify their next of kin and that would not be happening Monday. He said he could not say whether they were local people. 

WFSB reported that two LifeStar helicopters were called in following the incident. The station also reported that the incident happened on River Road. 

Both the EnCon police and the Connecticut State Police are investigating the incident. There’s no indication what caused the tree to topple, Gardner said. 

WFSB initially broke the story, although the TV station reported that the incident happened in Colchester. Gardner said Salmon River State Forest is mostly in Colchester, however it branches out into four other towns in the area, including East Haddam and East Hampton, where this particular incident happened.