A very large heritage oak fell just after 10p.m. in quiet Lafayette, destroying at least two cars, fences, yards, utility lines, and leaving hundreds trapped in the Springhill Neighborhood without access in or out. The large oak fell on Springhill Rd, about the 3320 block. At the time, PG&E reported 5000 customers affected. Power was slowly rolling back online Tuesday morning.
VIDEO: Craig Cannon
The city’s onerous tree protection ordinances discourage property owners from undertaking to inspect and remove sick or unstable trees.
It makes more financial sense to ignore the problem and let insurance companies bear the tail risk.
Fortunately, it’s “only money” today and nobody got hurt.
The tree was being worked on earlier in the day by a crew with a huge crane. It looked like they were really doing a hack job of the trimming. I asked if they were removing the tree and they said they were removing branches close to the power lines.
PG&E unbalanced the tree a day or two earlier through a hatchet-job pruning effort. Blame them, not the homeowners.
The work was done mid day Monday. The crew cut out several large limbs and then hours after it completely falls. Very sad to loose a 150 year old oak.
At approximately 4 pm, a PG&E tree trimming crew left this tree after several hours of work that included removing a massive 18″ to 20″ branch, amongst other trimming. After more than one hundred years of drinking from the local creek and adorning this neighborhood, it took less than six hours for the human caused imbalance in nature to topple this beauty. Thankfully no one was injured. No doubt PG&E will pay for the damages by adding the costs into the next rate hike, the 20% hike having just gone through.
This is a cautionary tale: if you see your trees growing toward lines, have them trimmed at your own dollar. That way when PGE comes by, they will see clearance and move on or look to trim very little. This is how I have treated my Oaks that are under the lines. Don’t wait for the hackers to show up, is my advice. It’s money well spent to have a real arborist and their crew manage the tree growth every 1-2 years.
This blog is a great mix of informative and entertaining content It keeps me engaged and interested from start to finish