Sylvie Paillard
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A young couple is lucky to be uninjured after a tree in Garibaldi Park came crashing down around them Saturday (Jan. 28).
Dan Sampson, 22, and Claire Robinson, 21, were standing alongside their truck on Diamond Head Road before the Diamond Head trail parking lot getting ready for an overnight snowshoe trip when Sampson heard a cracking sound.
"I looked up and saw it coming down," he said.
Sampson had just enough time to grab Robinson and dive to the ground beside his truck. The tree crushed the cab of the 2001 Ford F150 and pushed it into another parked car. Once the tree settled, the couple climb out from underneath the tree.
Sampson estimated the tree to be approximately 40 feet tall.
"It was a big tree, but it looked huge when it was coming down," he laughed.
Approximately five minutes after the incident, park ranger Katy Chambers arrived.
"They were quite surprised, but the owner of the vehicle was quite calm," she said.
Chambers cut back the tree's branches to clear the road for traffic, receiving help from passersby. Chamber was also on hand to explain the situation to the couple whose car was dented.
"They weren't happy about it but what do you do?" she said
The tree fell due to erosion of the roots caused by heavy rain and snow. Parks authorities make assessments of hazard trees twice a year - focusing heavily on high use areas such as parking lots - and take down trees seen as potentially dangerous. Chambers said in four years as a park ranger, she's never seen a tree fall onto a person or vehicle.
