Heavy Rain Drives the Need To Remove Danger Tree

Removing “danger trees” is a big part of a tree trimmers job. What is a danger tree? According to the US Forest Service, “A danger tree or hazard tree is any tree or its parts that will fail because of a defect and cause injury or death to people.”

In October, a danger tree had to be removed from the Stagecoach Road area in Florence’s Central Lincoln service territory. This particular tree had slowly been leaning over the past few years.
“The tree was in a challenging location on top of a 40-foot rock cliff, and because there was no imminent danger, we were keeping our eyes on it but weren’t planning on removing it just yet,” said Florence Operations Supervisor Troy Flescher.

After the first heavy rain this fall, nature escalated the removal timeline for Central Lincoln. “The tree ended up leaning over the cliff at a 45-degree angle, directly over the road and our poles and lines below.”

Using a bucket truck to remove a tree is a safe and efficient way to tackle the task, especially when the tree is large or located in a difficult-to-reach area. However, a bucket truck couldn’t be used due to this tree’s location, so Central Lincoln Journeyman Line Clearance Tree Trimmer Jared Hackney had to navigate another course of action.

“Jared climbed a nearby tree, then attached his climb line about 100 feet up for safety. Then he repelled down to the danger tree, limbed it, and removed it by cutting it into 6-foot chunks. This was a very high and technical climb due to the location and angle of this tree, and Jared completed it in less than an hour,” said Flescher. “We are extremely proud of his work!”