Tree removal companies busy after destructive Santa Ana winds

LAKESIDE, Calif. — “Things happen,” said Tim Griggs, reacting to the enormous eucalyptus tree that fell on his Lakeside house Thursday morning.

“Tree was huge — it already had a lean towards the house. I had a feeling something was going to happen,” said Griggs.

Part of the 120- to 140-foot tree – which was on a neighbor’s property – fell on the roof, tearing a hole above the dining room, leaving debris and shattered glass all over the floor.

Griggs says thankfully no one was home at the time. But neighbors called to tell him what happened.

“They said it sounded like an earthquake and just a real loud rumble when it came down,” said Griggs.

A crew spent the next day cutting up a portion of the tree to get it off the house.

Because of Thursday’s Santa Ana winds and saturated soil from recent rain, local tree removal companies are swamped.

“We’ve had a lot of calls. We’ve seen a lot of trees down — I see them all over the place,” said Larry Coalson, owner of LC Tree Service.

Coalson says tree removal can be a slow, dangerous process — and costly, with some jobs going for tens of thousands of dollars.

“It’s really about who can get there the quickest and who’s able to have a pretty competitive quote,” Coalson said. “Quotes are gonna be high because there’s a lot of insurance work. There’s a lot of variables — all these different loads. It makes the job way more dangerous.”

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