Trees Cause Death, Damage in D.C. Area

Large trees fell in the region during Wednesday's winter storm and high winds, causing some damage and at least one death.

Joseph John Brozina was pronounced dead at his Midland, Va., home after he was struck in the head by a tree while trying to clear damaged trees from his property, according to the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office.

A woman was taken to a hospital with minor injuries after a large tree fell on an SUV in the 2900 block of Newcastle Avenue in the Forest Glen Park section of Silver Spring, Md., about 3 p.m.

Witnesses told News4 they were surprised anyone survived, given the size of the tree and the damage to the car, but the man who was driving walked away without a scratch.

The injured woman was shaken up, News4's Jim Rosenfield reported. Observers said she seemed to be in shock.

"I can't believe that she survived it," said a witness. "I saw an empty car and I was thinking, 'Oh, thank God no one was in the car,' but then I realized there there was a car in the middle of the street, so someone had to have been driving it. I went to my neighbor's house and there was a woman passed out on the front stoop... She was shaking, she was cold, but she probably walked 50 feet to the house, so that has to mean something good, right?"

The tree also crushed an unoccupied car.

Newcastle Avenue was closed for Pepco and tree removal crews to clean up the tree.

In Capitol Heights, Md., a tree crashed into the roof of a house, sending the family inside rushing outside to safety.

The tree landed on the stove and caused a small fire that Prince George's County Fire and EMS extinguished, News4's Tracee Wilkins reported.

"You could hear the wind through the window. My mother was cooking, so when everyone ran out, the tree came through and landed on the stove," a resident said.

In Northwest D.C., a large tree landed on power lines on 43rd Street near Wisconsin Avenue in Tenleytown but didn't damage any home or cars. That tree has been removed.