FOMBELL, Pa. — Seconds made a big difference for a Beaver County man. He narrowly missed being hit by a falling tree on Wednesday as strong storms moved through Fombell.
As you see the tree fall in the attached video, you can see why the odds are in Joe Pavlick’s favor.
“I said it must be my lucky day; I’m playing the lottery,” Pavlick said.
This tree came down right where his van was just parked... narrowly missing him - after he left his campsite near Zelienople along the Connoquenessing Creek on Wednesday.
The crazy thing is he didn’t hear it coming.
“I never heard it. I never saw anything,” he said. “I got stopped half down the driveway; the neighbor had me wind down the window. I was on the phone at the time with my friend. He said, ‘Did you hear that noise?’ I said, ‘What noise?’”
It was only later, after he got home, that the neighbor sent the picture of the storm’s aftermath. He laughs about it now, but knows how serious this is.
“It would have taken me out of the sardine can of a van. It would have been a lot different. I’m kind of amused by it now but phew-wow.”
Joe says the tree thankfully did not do too much damage. He says his brother’s camper is dented and may have a broken window
Now on his weekend to-do list: cleaning up and chopping up the tree for firewood.
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