Police follow sounds of screams to find man lodged in deep hole in hollow tree trunk

Screams for help led deputies down a creek bed in Laguna Hills, California, to find a man stuck inside the hollow trunk of a standing tree on Tuesday morning, authorities said.

Deputies discovered the man trapped at about 10:30 a.m. after receiving reports of someone screaming and then conducting a patrol check near Los Alisos Boulevard and Paseo de Valenica, said Lt. Roland Chacon of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.



Firefighters and deputies said they are not sure why, but the man climbed into a narrow hole located near the base of the tree. The hole led inside the hollow tree trunk and about four or five feet underground, said Battalion Chief Kris Concepcion of the Orange County Fire Authority.

It took firefighters about 90 minutes to get the necessary equipment and safely cut through the branches of the tree to free the man from inside, he said. The only body parts visible outside the tree truck were the man's head and arms, he said. Part of the body was underground. "Why he's in a tree, I have no idea," Concepcion said. The man was freed just after noon and was being checked for injuries, Chacon said.

With photo gallery.