VANCOUVER – Two people were trapped after a large tree fell onto a car in downtown Vancouver Tuesday afternoon.
The tree, a large Sycamore Maple estimated to be 70 years old and about 50 feet tall, fell on West Pender Street at Cambie Street at Victory Square around 4:30 p.m. It hit a support pole for trolley wires, causing them to fall on to two vehicles.
No one was injured but two people had to be rescued from their vehicles by emergency crews after the wires were grounded by BC Transit Authority.
People took to social media to express their shock at what happened.
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The tree was cleared Tuesday night by park board crews, who then checked out the area.
It has now been determined that internal white crown rot caused the tree to fall, after eating away at the base and weakening its root support.
On Wednesday, staff will carry out inspections of other large trees in the park, using resistance measurement technology and non-destructive root excavations to determine their condition and structural integrity.
Urban Forestry crews carry out hazard tree inspections every year and according to the last safety inspection in December 2013, there were no significant visible defects on this tree.
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