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Illinois girl killed in bizarre accident while camping

An 11-year-old Illinois girl died when massive oak trees fell on her family as they were camping in Wisconsin.
Allison Spahr

An 11-year-old Illinois girl died when massive oak trees fell on her family as they were camping in Wisconsin.

Allison Spahr of Cary, Illinois was camping with her 13-year-old brother and their father at Devil’s Lake State Park when the trees fell at around 4 a.m. Sunday, June 1, 2014.

Wind may have been what toppled one oak tree and as it fell, it hit two more trees. A branch, that was about nine inches in diameter, was still attached to a tree when it landed on the family’s tent according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Neighboring campers tried to help after they heard the crash, but it took firefighters with a chainsaw to eventually free the family from beneath the fallen trees.

Allison was killed. Her father and brother escaped with minor injuries.

“The outward appearance of the tree showed no evidence of weakness during prior regularly scheduled campground inspections,” said a statement from the DNR.

“I have that sound of that tree indelibly etched in my mind,” Allison’s father, Kevin Spahr, told our sister station WGN-TV.

Spahr said he was told Allison probably never even woke up when the trees fell.

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