“We heard a big bang, and the floor shook under our feet. We walked out and couldn’t believe what we saw, (we were) shocked,” says Ron Pearson.
Pearson, Robert and Marsha Nestor were celebrating a birthday inside around 9 p.m. Saturday when they heard the noise. They walked outside only to discover the 90-foot Alder tree had pierced their swimming pool and smashed a sliding door.
“I’m still scared to be honest because there are a whole lot more trees there that can come down,” says Marsha Nestor.
Although it was raining heavily at the time, the Nestors say there was no wind. The tree fell from Hunter Park, a forested area that borders the family’s home.
A Port Moody woman was killed in March when a hemlock crushed the upper floor of her house, and earlier this month, a tree fell on a Port Coquitlam home, sending one man to hospital with spinal injuries.
In both cases, the trees were on public property.
The Nestors say many of the trees in the park appear dead or unstable, and they want the District of North Vancouver to take action.
“I want the city to at least top the trees and top the dead ones, so that if they do fall, they won’t come crashing through our bedroom,” Nestor says.
Nobody from the district was available for comment today.