The family of the man killed Saturday morning in Searsport when a tree fell on his vehicle during Atlantic storm Lee has identified him as Gary Phillips of Winterport.
The family of Phillips, 50, said he died around 9 a.m. Saturday while driving home from the gym.
The Waldo County Sheriff’s Office said a large tree fell on his vehicle and the powerlines.
Initially, Phillips was badly injured, but rescuers had to wait for power to be turned off to get to him. He was rushed to the hospital where he later died.
Phillips’ wife, Hailee, said the family was getting ready to celebrate their daughter’s fifth birthday on Saturday and was on the phone with him when the tree fell.
“We were talking on the phone, and I heard him yell, he said, ‘Oh f—,’ and I heard a big smash,” said Hailee Phillips. “And I said ‘Are you OK? Are you OK?’ and I didn’t get a response.”
“I did get through to 911, and they said there was an accident in Searsport,” she added.
Hailee Phillips said she and her husband recently started a small car dealership, KGP Auto Sales, named after their daughter’s initials. She said her husband was a car enthusiast and running a dealership was his lifelong dream.
“This accident was a one in a million tragic accident,” said Hailee Phillips. “He usually doesn’t even go that way to the gym. He usually goes the back way but thought it would probably be safer to go the main way. He was an incredible father to Kinslee. She thinks he hung the moon,” she said.
A GoFundMe campaign is raising money for the family.
