Police ID Fairfield man killed by fallen tree limb

Fairfield police were reporting multiple downed lines and outages around town on June 30, 2019, due to a string of thunder storms. Police also reported that a man died when a tree limb fell on his car that day. Fairfield police were reporting multiple downed lines and outages around town on June 30, 2019, due to a string of thunder storms. Police also reported that a man died when a tree limb fell on his car that day. Photo: Contributed / Fairfield Police Department Photo: Contributed / Fairfield Police Department Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Police ID Fairfield man killed by fallen tree limb 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

FAIRFIELD — Police have identified the 54-year-old man killed by a fallen tree limb as David L. Schmerzler of Fairfield.

Schmerzler, a graduate of Staples High School in Westport, died Sunday after his car was hit by a fallen tree limb. Officers found Schmerzler unconscious in the driver seat.

Fairfield Police Capt. Robert Kalamaras said the vehicle was pulling into the driveway of his Sturges Road residence around 2 p.m. Sunday when the limb fell on top of the car. He was taken to Norwalk Hospital, where he pronounced dead at 3:18 p.m.

“Further investigation revealed that David was driving northbound on Sturges Highway when a large limb from a Sassafras tree fell striking the vehicle and David on the driver side. David’s wife, Donna Schmerzler, who sustained minor injuries, was in the passenger seat and his adult daughter was in the rear passenger seat,” Kalamaras said.

The death was part of the aftermath of a string of summer thunderstorms that took place Sunday. Towns throughout the region, including not just Fairfield, but also Norwalk, Westport, Darien and others were hit with multiple power outages, fallen tree branches and limbs, accidents and road closures.

Though the death on Sturges Road was the most serious incident that happened as a result of the storm, Kalamaras said there were multiple problems due to the bad weather. That includes an incident in which a tree fell down in front of Town Hall on Old Post Road and knocked down nine telephone poles. Kalamaras said car were trapped under the poles, but no one was seriously injured.

There also was a deck collapse at a home on Rhode Island Avenue, injuring six people who were on the deck at the time of collapse. All were transported to an area hospital with what appear to be non-life-threatening injuries.

Fairfield Police took to Twitter during the day to warn residents to be careful in the storm’s wake.

“Several trees, wires (and) poles down in town creating hazardous conditions and power outages,” the tweet read. “As a result, our phone lines are inundated with calls & are overwhelming the phone system. Use caution (and) do not approach any downed trees, poles or wires. Call 911 in an Emergency.”