An Oregon man and his dog came terrifyingly close to being crushed when a tree toppled onto their home as storms swept through the area last week — but both made it out unharmed.
Shawn and Krissy Anderson watched as a Douglas fir slammed into their neighbors Patty Robleto and Rick Sander’s home in Tualatin around 3 a.m. local time on Wednesday, Dec. 17, according to The Oregonian.
The tree tore through the ceiling of Sander’s bedroom, where he and his dog, Leo, were asleep. Neither was injured, with the trunk stopping just feet from where they were lying.
The Andersons immediately sprang into action. Krissy called 911 while Shawn grabbed a flashlight from his work van and rushed over to the damaged house.
“I could see parts of the tree branches and the tree inside of the bedroom as I looked in their window,” Shawn recalled. “It was just like a bomb had gone off.”
Robleto, speaking on behalf of her husband, said Sander was startled when Shawn began banging on the window — and only then realized a massive tree had crashed into the room.
Sander and Leo managed to crawl out as the situation grew even more dangerous: the home began filling with natural gas after a gas line broke.
Shawn, Sander and other neighbors then moved away from the house, worried a spark could trigger an explosion. But the falling tree had already knocked out power to the neighborhood.
“There’s so many aspects of this whole ordeal that were extremely lucky,” Shawn said.
Robleto said seeing photos of the damage made the reality sink in. “I don’t think I fully processed until I saw pictures,” she said. “I think at the moment I was just thankful he [her husband] was okay.”
Neighbors offered Sander a place to stay, and his wife described the support as “heartwarming.”
“I’m just so thankful that they’re alive,” Robleto said. “I’m like, ‘man, screw the rest of the stuff. It’s all materialistic stuff.’ ”
