Man Killed in Logging Accident - WSET.com - ABC13

Prince Edward Co., VA - A day on the job turned deadly in Prince Edward County Thursday after a tree fell on a Charlotte County man, killing him.

Joshua Royster, 19, worked for Mast Brothers Logging Company out of Halifax County.

Loggers with a different company say when they heard what happened--they stopped work for the day to honor the life lost. It was a solemn day along Nursery Road.

David Barton Jr. heard about the accident and feared his father had been hurt.

"I thought it was him in the woods and it was a bad feeling," said Barton Jr., who works for Timber Harvester.

But his dad was okay. He was working on a different site two miles from where the accident happened.

"It only takes a limb falling out of a tree or a tree fall back on you," said Barton Jr..

They have worked in the timber industry all of their lives and have had some close calls of their own.

"There have been numerous times in my lifetime that I knew it was just God that protected me," said Barton Jr.

Both say they feel the pain when losing a fellow logger.

"Pretty much like family, we're birds of a feather," said Barton Jr.

The Bartons say cutting timber is a dangerous job, but for some it's all they know. And going to work is a risk they both take every day.

"When you get out of bed your life is on the line to pay the bills and everybody's just trying to raise a family and it's a lot of risk," said Barton Jr.

Right now, we don't know just what caused that tree to fall on Royster. The Virginia Department of Labor is investigating.