No injuries or house damage when that big tree came down around 10 am near SW Walker/Arch SW in east North Admiral. We checked it out after a tip; neighbors say they heard a loud cracking noise – and down it came. The tree took down some wires/cables, so Seattle City Light is there, though no outage is shown; the street is relatively remote so no traffic effects.
OMG!!!! The home owners can thank their lucky stars and go buy a lottery ticket right now!
What’s going on with the cedar, anyone taking it? Looking for split rail material and fire wood.
Remember the city is trying to tighten regulations regarding trees like this exceptional cedar. With the new rules, it will be nearly impossible and very expensive to address dangerous trees like this one.
John. My mom wanted to improve her view on Genesee Hill(she lives on a steep bank). She got a certified arborist, filled out the 28 pages of permit paperwork,paid the fee and got permits from the city-no questions asked. The arborist did tell a funny story about a woman he was working with in Bellevue. She had a tree partially fall in her back yard. It was in poor condition. It took 18 months for the city to give her a permit to clean it up. She was warned there would be big fines if she did anything without a permit.
The tree was
apparently both leaning and bending, indicating that the tree was
first (planted?) leaning, then developed a strong enough root system
for it to begin to grow (normally) upright until the upper structure
of the tree grew heavy enough and/or tall enough to overcome the root
system’s resistance—simple high school physics. The flouting of
the Law of Gravity can have grave consequences. Luckily no one was
within the impact area. I’m doing a tree hazard potential
assessment study, and this incident has been entered therein. A
look-see via Google Street View (GSV) is the source for these
preliminary observations, which is a quite limited basis for reaching
any final conclusions, so other factors unknown to me might also have
been present. See
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.5839541,-122.3826947,3a,90y,328.11h,100.86t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sY54pJv-kES4sDFc43HFV7Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
There is exaggeration due to parallax error in this view, so to
ascertain a more correct degree of lean and bend, adjust the view to
center the base of the trunk.
The most likely reasons for the lean and bend could have included being planted at an angle, the tree shifting post-planting (common in root-bound nursery stock), or being planted too close to other trees. With respect to ordinances intended to prevent the willy-nilly felling of trees, I hope it excludes the heavy hand of the well-intentioned bent on preserving all trees, even the dangerous ones. I hope those who insist upon leaving potentially dangerous trees in place are prepared to assume responsibility for the consequences. How much have tree-failure-related claims, settlements, and judgments cost in Seattle in the past?
Frankly, because the base of the tree doesn’t show in the photo, I can’t tell which tree (or limb?) came down. I presumed, perhaps incorrectly, that the leaner/bender on the far right failed. Again, the GSV method of checking on the tree’s condition prior to the failure is highly limited. If the blogger could post another photo, we might learn something. All kinds of factors can factor into tree failures, and with the possible exception of lightning strikes, there’s almost always more than one factor involved, and hardly ever a single “cause.”
Incredibly we have the technology to answer some of the issues raised by Wayne Tyson. I went to Google mapping that clearly shows a ‘before’ image of the Cedar trees. The trees all appear to be in the Seattle ROW, planting strip, and you can even tilt up to see the terrible trimming and a dying trunk as well as multiple trunks and branches interlaced with power lines. I assume the City is responsible for damages to the home and properly trimming or removing, if unsafe, trees in the ROW.
The tree is in front of my house, still need to check our exact property line, but really hoping it is the city’s responsibility….. fingers crossed because the rest of the tree needs to go!! The part that fell is directly to the right of the sign. took out a utility pole in the neighbors back yard, snapped it in half, ripped all electrical hook ups to the house, no electricity until Tuesday (most likely). More cosmetic damage to their outside patio area. Nonetheless, no injuries!!! Scariest thing I’ve heard, I thought a semi truck hit the tree
John, you are completely wrong. First of all, from what I can see it doesn’t appear that this tree would qualify as exceptional. Second, if it’s on private property the regulations haven’t changed much. Third, and most importantly, it is ALWAYS allowed to take down a diseased tree, especially one that poses a safety hazard, such as this one. The allegation that the city would not allow removal of a dangerous tree is absurd, and the cost is the same regardless. Regulations around tree-cutting are essential, and the fear-mongering around the issue is just nonsensical.
Actually, the City does prevent homeowners from removing trees on their own property. I have a Pacific Dogwood on my property in West Seattle that is diseased, unhealthy, and ugly. The City told me I can’t remove it because it doesn’t currently doesn’t pose any danger and it has some type of protected designation. I may have some options if I go through their permitting process, but they discouraged me pretty pointedly.
ANONYME, I was referring to the proposal supported by local dems and covered by WSB as quoted here; “TREE RESOLUTION: The group voted in favor of a resolution supporting a revised city tree ordinance. Key points:*Trees 6″ diameter and larger would be “significant trees,” protected*New policies for removing them*Permit costs*Replacement requirements*New city fund that in-lieu fees would be paid into*Limit non-development sites to 2 significant-tree removals in 3 yearsMaybe ANONYME is not aware but the regulations on private property have changed enormously from historically none whatsoever up to the mid-nineties, followed with ever more restrictive costly and unworkable rules adopted since 1996 storm season. Back then there was no ‘exceptional tree’ designation or any tree protection at all!
Unfortunately there was extensive damage to the side of their house :(
Actually JOHN, I am a retired arborist with an additional certificate in urban forestry, and I have a fairly accurate grasp of what the historical, current, and proposed regulations are — and why changes are needed. I’m not sure what your expertise is, but clearly you see this only as a political issue “supported by local dems [sic]”. I can’t see the base of the tree in the photo (nor is it clear if this tree was on public or private property), but multi-trunked trees often have one or more junctures that are prone to failure; if the tree was leaning, as someone suggested, that makes a split even more likely. None of this has anything to do with a tree ordinance. The limitation of cutting two large trees within a three-year period should not be a burden to any reasonable person.
ANONYME,I am not a retired tree industry businessman. I am on the opposite side of your industry, a tree lover and owner and maintainer of many that I no longer have control of. I am singled out as a tree owner to do what y many neighbors with no trees are free of and that is paying arborists.- I don’t know when ANONYME left the business, but the cost of trimming just one douglas fir of ours is over $2,000. —As an expert maybe ANONYME can do an armchair review like I did on Google Maps that seems to show the cedars in question are clearly on the planting strip of the ROW. Using the street view, you can pan and tilt to see the cedars’ branches intertwined with power lines and one trunk that appears stripped of limbs and life?–In the interest of healthy debate maybe ANONYME can share your grasp of the reasons changes are needed that you mention without substantiation? We can agree that Seattle’s Tree Canopy is approaching the goals set years ago of 30% despite rampant rumors to the contrary!
My neighbor has a huge multi-trunk cedar tree leaning towards my house. They don’t seem to think it’s a problem. All I see is a tree gaining in weight, just waiting to split and crash on my family. Everyone says when it falls and demolishes my house, it will be an “act of god” and my insurance should cover it. Great, problem solved. Meanwhile my headstone will say “everyone told me not to worry”.
Sorry, comment time is over.
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