In my view, this tragedy was connected to the fire and evacuation order, albeit indirectly.
And no, I'm not remotely suggesting the man should've paid with his life for having made a questionable decision. We're intelligent people here, but we've all exercised questionable judgment, often with consequences. Examining the facts surrounding a tragedy doesn't automatically imply the victim somehow 'deserved' his fate.
No, he didn't 'ignore' the evacuation order. He left his property. Did he comply with the order? No. He stopped within the evacuation zone to engage in a non-essential activity. BTW, one account I read (haven't independently verified) says the accident location was within one kilometer of the active blaze.
It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that because of proximity to the fire, the victim was rushing his tree-felling activity to stay ahead of the fire, and in doing so, failed to observe safe practices. Hence, the tree falling on him.
So, the lesson(s) here? One might be that in a survival situation -- and this was a survival situation -- consequences of decisions are often greatly magnified, and need to be carefully considered before acting.
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"Things that have never happened before happen all the time." — Scott Sagan, The Limits of Safety
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