Blog: City Blog

Busy week for Public Service, Urban Forestry: Storms Fell 30 Trees, Blocking Streets

This week was a busy one for the City's Urban Forestry crews. A series of heavy storms felled about 30 large trees that blocked as many City streets - and 17 of those tree-removal emergencies happened after hours.

But the Urban Forestry professionals are quick. And they're used to scrambling.

Coming back into work from their homes at night to deal with trees blocking roads, they typically have a tree chainsawed and the road cleared within an hour.

"We have a really good crew. Sometimes, it's less than 20 minutes," Urban Forester Kasey Krouse says. "What usually takes the most time is just getting to the scene."

One of the 17 trees down and blocking City streets and alleys this week was this one in Lonsdale.

One of the 30 trees down and blocking City streets and alleys this week was this one in Lonsdale.

The Public Service Department staffs around the clock, and a night crew responds immediately to after-hours service calls. They assess each situation and clean up after dozens of storm-related mishaps. So far this year, Public Service has responded to 227 calls for help with emergency tree issues.

If it's the middle of the night and more manpower or expertise is required to deal with a particularly difficult nuisance, like a huge tree blocking a road, then Krouse's crew is summoned.

Sixty times so far this year, tree crews have been called in to work after hours.

"A downed tree can block people from getting in or out of their neighborhood, so we really try to get these problems resolved as fast as possible," Public Service Director Chad Weth says. "I can't say enough good things about our Public Service and Urban Forestry crews. They hustle, and they're extremely good at what they do."

Posted by evreeland On 07 August, 2020 at 2:43 PM