Fallen Tree Misses Sleeping Occupant, But Damages Tewksbury Home
TEWKSBURY (CBS) -- A single-family home suffered significant damage when a tree fell on the structure Tuesday morning.
Tewksbury Fire officials say the call for a large tree down on Pratt Street came in around 9:30 a.m.
There was one occupant who was sleeping inside the house at the time of the incident. That person was able to get out of the house and was not injured.
Authorities say the tree hit the roof, causing it to cave in at the ridge.
Large branches caused holes in the roof over the kitchen area and the middle of the hallway.
Tewksbury officials have deemed the house uninhabitable.
"It was just a really loud noise, like something crashed," neighbor Dale Wogan said.
The pine tree was weakened by high winds from Tuesday's storm and came down, nearly hitting the homeowner inside.
"I think he works nights. So I think he was sleeping and it obviously woke him up. But he was dazed. He was like, 'I don't know what happened.' You obviously checked him out? We talked to him, made sure he was okay. He was like, 'I don't know what to do," Wogan added.
The tree was actually growing on the property of a neighbor. She left to drop the kids off at school and came home to find her big pine was down.
"What goes through your mind when you look at that? I was just grateful Warren was okay. The homeowner over there? Yeah, yeah, happy he was okay," neighbor Kelly Spurr said.
Tuesday afternoon, a crew began to remove the tree and provided some advice for property owners.
"Having somebody check your trees once a year for decay or structural problems is helpful. Also, proper pruning. Make it so that the tree is a little less dense and wind will hopefully blow through it, instead of slamming into it," tree service contractor John Marquis said.
