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Atmospheric river leads to deluge of calls to tree-trimming companies
The pause in the rain storms gave Bay Area tree-trimming crews a chance to catch up on critical work, clearing debris and cutting down dead trees that pose a danger in the coming winter months. We checked with three arborists who had tips for homeowners.
SAUSALITO, Calif. - After last week's massive storms, arborists and tree-trimming companies are taking advantage of the clearer skies to clear out debris and dead trees that might pose a problem in the upcoming wet winter months.
"We're just trying to get ahead of the curve here, and get this ready cause this is on a busy street here, and don't want any dead trees or dangerous trees around," James Cairnes, co-owner of the Small World Tree Company said, as his team cleared a dead tree next to a house in Sausalito.
Cairnes said his company had an uptick in calls during last week's heavy rain and winds, an early reminder for homeowners to do critical checks before the next storm hits.
"This is a dead tree we're doing today with sudden oak death...basically, the leaves will turn brown overnight," Cairnes said. "Oak is very strong normally but when it has this disease, the whole thing can just snap and fall."
That's exactly what happened last Friday during the storm, when a giant oak snapped in half and fell on a house in Burlingame, according to arborist Alex Llamas, founder of Sexy Trees, which received the call to help remove the tree.
"It fell onto the building, it punched a hole right through the garage roof. So it was a little scary," Llamas said. "It had just snapped halfway up the tree."
Tad Jacobs, founder of Treemasters said certain trees are particularly vulnerable to limb breakage.
"Redwoods and acacias are really common to lose limbs. Cypress as well," Jacobs said.
A crew worked to take down a giant eucalyptus tree in Marin City on Tuesday. Jacobs said it was about 120 years old and had grown so large, there was concern that it might fall in a storm.
Jacobs said it's important for all homeowners to watch for danger signs and call an arborist for help assessing or trimming back trees.
"You want to check the trunk for any cracks in the trunk or things like that where you see light coming through the trunk is another telltale sign," Jacobs said.
Jana Katsuyama is a reporter for KTVU. Email Jana at jana.katsuyama@fox.com. Call her at 510-326-5529. Or follow her on Twitter @JanaKTVU and read her other reports on her bio page.
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