Residents in the west end of town are frustrated after a hazardous tree they reported to Parks Canada toppled over and damaged two houses during a powerful storm July 20.
The tree came crashing down shortly before 5:30 p.m., slightly damaging two houses in Stone Mountain Village.
“I’ve informed people about this and was told it was OK, it won’t fall,” said Steve Brake, whose house suffered the most damage.
“It could have fallen straight through my house if it hadn’t hit the chimney. That’s my concern, it would have come right through my living room.”
In an emailed statement, Parks confirmed it was aware of the incident.
“Parks Canada takes safety of visitors and residents seriously. We are committed to looking into the incident further and will be working closely with the homeowners to resolve the situation,” said Cathy Jenkins, municipal and realty services manager for Parks Canada.
Seven-year-old Emery Miller was watching T.V. when he heard the tree snap in his backyard.
“It was really loud,” he said. “It scared me.”
For the past few years residents have been watching the tree sway more and more violently in their backyard, and raised their concerns with Parks.
“I watch it every time the wind blows and I know it’s coming. Lucky it didn’t fall on the neighbours house because the kids were watching T.V.,” said Brake.
Dave Miller, whose house was also damaged, said he hopes Parks will learn from this incident.
“I know that there are other trees on the other side that people have been worried about, so hopefully this is a wake up call,” he said.
Miller pointed out that adjacent to the tree is a small playground and suggested the incident could have been much worse had it not been raining and the kids were outside.
No one was injured in the incident, however, Brake’s house, is in need of some repairs.
“There’s a lot of work to do,” he said, explaining the tree left a hole in his wall and roof and heavily damaged his deck.
“Somebody is going to pay for it, either our insurance company or Parks Canada’s insurance company.”
Paul Clarke
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