UPS driver outruns falling tree during Kennewick windstorm. Watch video of the escape

A UPS driver had a close call Monday afternoon in Kennewick, and the homeowner he was delivering to has the video to prove it.

Pedro Mojica was taking a shower during Monday afternoon’s sudden windstorm in Eastern Washington and didn’t hear anything unusual.

But living on Arrowhead Drive close to railroad tracks, he’s used to tuning out noise.

It wasn’t until his neighbor called to alert him that he went outside to see his 55-foot spruce tree lying across the roof of his house.

Then he learned that a neighbor across the street had caught video on his doorbell camera of a man running from Mojica’s house.

But Mojica’s doorbell camera footage was even better:

A UPS driver walks toward his front door, looking down at his handheld scanner as the wind shakes the spruce beside him.

He looks up just in time to see the tree start to come down, the startled expression on his face making clear what he’s thinking.

Luckily, his reflexes are quick. He turns and runs, just in time to escape having the tree land on him.

But that didn’t stop him from making the delivery.

Mojica found it on his back porch.

He’s an engineer who works at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland and his wife ordered him a present — a golfing polo shirt — to mark Engineer’s Week.

Tuesday Mojica tried to reach out to the UPS driver, but he was out on his route.

Mojica’s insurance company sent over a roofing company to check his roof and a tree service to remove the tree.

Christian Valdivia of Quality Tree Service in the Tri-Cities said spruce trees have surface roots, rather than tap roots, which don’t give them a strong anchor.

A combination of wet ground and high winds toppled the tree, he said.

See the video at tri-cityherald.com.

This story was originally published February 25, 2025 at 10:46 AM.