FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WLWT) – A woman and her 2-year-old granddaughter are dead after a tree fell on their camper, officials with the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office said.
WLWT reports that it happened around 2 a.m. Friday at Ryan’s Run campground, located in the 3200 block of U.S. 52 in Franklin Township.
"A tree fell and is on a camper and there’s a wife and two kids in the camper. We need help right away," said a 911 caller.
David and Patricia Brandenburg and their granddaughters were asleep when the tree came crashing down.
Patricia Brandenburg, 46, and her 2-year-old granddaughter were killed.
The 2-year-old had a twin sister, who survived. David Brandenburg, 51, was also able to escape safely, officials said.
Franklin Township Fire Chief Bradley Moore describes the scene as chaotic.
"It appeared it had uprooted. Part of the tree, probably 3-4 feet in diameter uprooted and landed across the middle part of the trailer," he said.
The 911 caller identifies the lot where they were parked as No. 43.
The Clermont County Sheriff’s Office said the camper was "severely damaged."
"It did really a lot of damage to it. It went all the way down, the tree went down all the way to the frame," said Moore.
The family is from Franklin Township and the small community is in mourning.
"Being a small town, most of us know a lot of the people. So a lot of us knew the family as we pulled up. So that played a role in it a little bit to try to speed it along," Moore said.
There were no reports of severe weather in the area at the time, only light rain.
The overnight accident prompted the response of a half-dozen rescue teams. The bodies of the dead were take to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office for examination.
