BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)— It's a dangerous rescue operation crews rarely face, as Kern County firefighters raced to Plaza Street in East Bakersfield Thursday afternoon to help a worker trapped in a palm tree. "You cannot practice for this," Kern County Fire Department PIO Jonathan Drucker told 17 News. The rescue took hours as crew members cut section after section of the massive palm tree trying to reach the tree trimmer pinned under the crushing weight of palm fronds 30 feet up. "These skirts on the palm tree, they become loose and they can actually slide down the trunk of the tree," Drucker said. "So, it's actually a very hazardous thing to do to trim these trees and it's very hazardous for the firefighters to work around it." The Kern County Urban Search and Rescue team ran into a major problem trying to reach the man who wasn't moving. The truck's 100-foot ladder couldn't reach. "The ladder truck's ladder is about 10 feet short of the tree," Drucker said. Officials say they had to shoot a rope attached to bean bags up into the tree to anchor the rescuer safely to reach the trapped man. Day turned into night as the massive effort waned on. Drucker says due to the length and physical demands of the operation, a second rescuer was brought in trying to salvage every life-saving second, but they were too late. "The individual was actually reported unconscious prior to our arrival," Drucker said. The tree trimmer was pronounced dead at the scene. Drucker says the victim was unresponsive half an hour before firefighters arrived. As the coroner works to determine the cause and manner of death, the freshly pruned palm tree serves as a harsh reminder: a man's life is gone. The identity of the victim has not been released.