Fire crews rushed to a neighborhood near Mill Avenue after palm fronds fell and pinned a tree trimmer against a trunk.
TEMPE, AZ — Tempe police have identified a tree trimmer who was killed while working on a palm tree Sunday morning as 57-year-old Flavio Sesmas Maya, after a heavy mass of palm debris fell on him in a residential neighborhood near Mill Avenue.
The death drew a response from Tempe fire crews, a ladder truck and the department’s Technical Rescue Team, turning what began as a morning work call into a fatal recovery. Police and fire officials said Maya was elevated in the tree when a section of dead palm fronds, often called a palm skirt, came loose and pinned him against the trunk. Investigators are now reviewing how the job was being done, while workplace safety officials are expected to examine whether any rules or precautions were violated.
Emergency crews were called shortly after 8:30 a.m. Sunday to the area of Maple Avenue and 12th Street, just east of Mill Avenue in Tempe. Fire officials said the initial report was for a worker trapped in a tree during trimming work on a residential property. By the time rescuers arrived, Maya was stuck high in the palm beneath a thick layer of fallen fronds and debris. Firefighters used a ladder truck to reach him, then worked to pull away the material and create space around his body. After that, the Technical Rescue Team helped bring him down to the ground. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police later identified him Sunday night. No one else was reported hurt. The call closed off part of the quiet neighborhood for several hours as rescue crews, police officers and investigators worked around the tree and spoke with people at the property.
Officials have released only a limited account of the accident, but the core sequence is clear. Maya was climbing and trimming the palm when the skirt dislodged above or around him and dropped with enough force to crush him against the trunk, according to local reports citing Tempe fire and police. A palm skirt is made up of older, dead fronds and plant material that can remain attached below the green canopy for long periods. On tall palms, that buildup can become dense and extremely heavy. Authorities have not said whether Maya was working alone in the tree, whether he was tied in with ropes at the moment the debris shifted, or what equipment was being used when the collapse happened. They also have not said who hired him, whether he worked for a tree service company or as an independent contractor, or whether any witnesses were positioned close enough to see the exact moment the skirt gave way. The specific medical cause of death had not been released as of Tuesday, and officials had not publicly described any signs of equipment failure.
The accident also put fresh attention on a type of tree work that safety officials and arborists have long described as especially dangerous. Palm trimming carries hazards that differ from work on many shade trees because old fronds can stack tightly around the trunk and then drop in a sudden mass. Federal workplace safety guidance warns that tree care workers face risks from falls, chain saws, struck-by injuries and getting caught in tree material. Palm-specific case studies cited by safety agencies have documented deaths in which workers were crushed or suffocated after fronds collapsed around them. In Arizona, palms are common in residential neighborhoods, commercial corridors and older landscaped areas, making trimming work a familiar sight across metro Phoenix. Yet experts in the trade say the routine appearance of the work can hide how quickly conditions can change once a climber is inside a skirt of dead growth. Carter Allen, owner of Tempe Tree Services, told local television reporters the job remains one of the most dangerous in the field, especially when workers are dealing with height and the weight of accumulated fronds.
What happens next will unfold on two tracks: the death investigation and the workplace review. Tempe police are handling the basic investigation into the incident, while the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner is responsible for certifying the official cause and manner of death after its examination and any needed testing. Separately, the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health has opened an investigation, according to later reporting on the case. That review typically focuses on the employer, worksite conditions, training, equipment and whether state or federal safety rules applied. Investigators may seek records on job assignments, hazard planning, use of climbing gear and whether workers had been trained for palm-specific cutting methods. Authorities have not announced any citations, penalties or criminal allegations, and there is no public indication that foul play is suspected. It is also not yet clear how long the state workplace investigation will take. Medical examiner findings can be listed as pending if more review is needed, and workplace cases can remain open for weeks or longer before agencies decide whether enforcement action is warranted.
In the neighborhood where it happened, the scene was stark because the job site sat in an ordinary residential setting, not a construction zone or remote work area. Neighbors saw emergency vehicles gather near the palm and watched as crews used specialized rescue equipment to reach a man who had started the morning on what appeared to be routine tree work. Fire officials at the scene described the call as an unfortunate reminder of the hazards involved in trimming tall palms. For people in the industry, the details sounded familiar in the worst way: a worker elevated on a trunk, debris shifting with little warning, and rescue crews forced to turn first to access and extrication before medical aid can do much. The case also echoed another fatal Arizona palm-trimming incident reported in the past year, underlining that the risk is not limited to one city or one employer. Even with experienced crews and proper planning, palm skirts can behave unpredictably once they are cut or disturbed, and when they do, the worker closest to the trunk has little room to escape.
As of Tuesday, the public record in the case remained narrow but important. Police had identified the victim as Flavio Sesmas Maya, 57. Fire officials had outlined the rescue effort and confirmed that no other injuries were reported. The medical examiner’s ruling and the state workplace safety investigation are the next major milestones, and those findings are likely to shape the fuller account of how a Sunday morning tree-trimming job ended in a fatal accident in Tempe.
Author note: Last updated April 15, 2026.