Here's a follow up article in Today's Rutland Herald of the young man killed when caught in a hay baler. The article states his mom had found him. Can you imagine that...... how sad, she must be devastated.
I, as others have, posted this article in hopes of preventing similar incidents as we work with equipment that has the potential of resulting in fatalities.
Otter Valley mourns loss of 16-year-old
June 15, 2007
By Alan J. Keays and Lisa D. Connell Herald Staff
Billings Dead at 16
Jacob W. Billings enjoyed hunting, fishing, riding a four-wheeler, and most of all his mother's rhubarb pie.
The 16-year-old's death in an accident where he became entangled in a hay baler at his family's farm in Pittsford led to an outpouring of emotions Thursday at Otter Valley Union High School in Brandon where he was a freshman.
In the school's lobby, color pictures of tractors and farm landscapes, cut from magazines, were pasted on a memory board provided to allow students and staff to share their memories of Billings' life and offer support to his family.
More than 50 messages were posted on the construction-paper covered board. Several messages spoke directly to Jacob's sister, Ariel, an eighth-grader at the school.
"Ariel, Jacob was a wonderful person and so are you. There is no way this could have been prevented. If you ever feel like talking to someone your own age, just let me know," wrote Kirsten Root.
And from another student, Amanda Miller, "Jacob, you were one of the sweetest kids I have ever met and I will miss you very much. I miss hanging out in 4th block and on the bus … you were a very quiet kid but you always talked to me and there was a smile on your face every time."
The American and Vermont flags outside the school were both lowered to half-staff in Billings' memory.
"He was well-liked by all the kids in school," Dana Cole-Levesque, OVUHS principal, said late Thursday afternoon. "He was quiet, polite and hardworking. It's a real blow to the community."
State police say they are still working to determine how Billings became caught Wednesday evening in a hay baler at his family's farm at 839 Route 3 in Pittsford.
His death has been ruled accidental. State Police Detective Sgt. Robert Patten said the family had the hay baler for 10 years and Billings was familiar with its operation.
"His dad had asked him to hook up the hay baler … . It's not really clear what exactly he was doing that close to the hay baler while it was running," Patten said. "(His family) said he was always very safe. We're not really certain what happened. A lot of that we may never know."
Cole-Levesque said the school held an emergency meeting 7:30 a.m. Thursday with faculty and staff to make them aware of Billings' death. The school also made grief counselors available to students.
"We met with students in small groups throughout the day," Cole-Levesque said.
The principal described Billings as a young man who enjoyed outdoor activities, from riding a four-wheeler to hunting, fishing and working with his father at the farm. Billings also loved his mother's cooking, especially her rhubarb pie.
State police are continuing to investigate the accident. The Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration have not been called in to join the investigation. "It's my understanding because this was a young man working on his property, or his family's property, it's not something that applies to VOSHA," Patten said.
At the farm, the family raises beef cattle and hays the property, the detective said.
"They have only been in that spot about a year and half," Patten said. "They are originally from Clarendon."
Patten said it appeared Billings was servicing the baler "or doing something in the way of maintenance" at the time of the accident. Billings' father was working in an upper meadow on the property at the time.
Jacob's mother discovered him when she came out of the house about 100 feet away. The hay baler was located in a driveway area, parked only a few feet in front a utility shed.
"His mother saw that (Billings) was real close to the hay baler and knew that it was running," Patten said "When she got out there she saw that he was actually caught up in it … she was able to shut it down."
Pittsford firefighters and rescue personnel were called to the scene, where Billings was caught in one of the rear straps of the round baler, which was attached to a tractor.
"His left arm got caught up and hooked into the hay baler, and because it was running, it started to pull him in," Patten said. "They were able to cut the belt and cut away the shirt and get him free."
Rescue workers tried to resuscitate him before rushing him to Rutland Regional Medical Center. Upon arriving at the hospital, Billings was pronounced dead from massive trauma to his upper torso.
The exact time of the accident remains under investigation, though the 911 call was reported around 7:34 p.m. Wednesday.
"The window that we're looking at is a minimum of 30 minutes," Patten said. "It ranged from someone last seeing him around 6:30 or 7 o'clock."
How long Billings had been caught in the machine also has not been determined, since the accident could have happened anytime between the last time he was seen and when he was spotted by his mother, Patten said.
The detective added that there is no indication that the baler was not working properly.
Steve Monahan of the state Department of Labor said tracking accidents on small family farms is hard.
"We don't have jurisdiction on the Occupation Safety and Health side over farms that have fewer than 10 full-time employees," he said, adding, "On the workers' compensation side, family members aren't included."
Statistics from the state workers' compensation database shows from 2004 to 2006 two fatal farm accident, both in 2005.
"We know there are more than that," Monahan said. "But if they were self-employed they wouldn't show up. If they were family members, they wouldn't show up."
Billing's death is the second agricultural-related fatality in Pittsford in three months.
In March, a logger was killed when he felled one tree and it struck another, which came down on top of him deep in the woods off Plains Road in Pittsford.
Meanwhile, officials at OVUSH said Thursday that having paper, pens and markers on table in front of the memory board in the school's lobby helped people write freely about their thoughts on Billings' death.
Neatly written in cursive handwriting on the board, a five-stanza unsigned poem read:
Jacob, quiet and gentle, always a smile, a fine friend, a good worker.
I remember working with Jacob, never angry, never a harsh word.
So proud to work hard with his dad, telling me what he had done.
Describing his love for his family, proud of his dad and what he had learned.
Quiet and gentle, always a smile, this is what angels are made of.
Funeral services for Billings are set for 1 p.m. Sunday at the family farm, followed by a reception at the farm. Visiting hours will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Clifford Funeral Home in Rutland.
Contact Alan J. Keays at
alan.keays@rutlandherald.com.
