Part of a signature oak tree that stands an estimated 100 feet tall fell onto a garage in a West Hazel Dell townhouse neighborhood Thursday morning.
Bill Marshall, who lives at 8716 N.W. Lakeshore Ave., said that a third of the old tree fell in his yard and onto his garage, damaging the roof. No one was injured.
Joel Scott, who built the townhouses and lives a few houses south of the tree, said that he awoke to the noise of the limbs falling.
“I heard a strange noise, I thought it was a train,” he said. He later discovered that a large portion of the tree, including two large limbs, had collapsed.
“It deteriorated over time from the pressure and weight of those huge limbs,” he said.
Crews with Arborscape cleared the tree debris from Marshall’s property Thursday morning.
Scott said that this isn’t the first time that one of these great old trees in the area has fallen. About 12 years ago, another oak tree a little to the north fell and crushed part of a house, requiring three rooms to be completely rebuilt, he said.
Seeing the only other oak in the area also start to fall apart, he said, is a shame.
The tree is estimated to be a couple hundred years old according to arborists that have come out to the neighborhood, Scott said.
