Several Washington Square Park Trees To Be Trimmed After Fallen Branch Injured 5
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- San Francisco Recreation and Park Department officials on Wednesday announced several trees at Washington Square Park in North Beach will be trimmed to prevent any further incidents a day after five people were injured by a falling branch.
On Tuesday around 5:40 p.m., a tree branch near Filbert Street and Columbus Avenue fell and resulted in five people suffering minor injuries, including a two-year-old boy who was transported to an area hospital as a precaution.
According to Rec and Park officials, the tree and limb were healthy, based on evaluations made by outside experts in 2008, 2010 and 2017. However, out of an abundance of caution, weight will be removed from the limbs of the tree and several others at the park.
"We are extremely thankful none of the park-goers hit by the branch were seriously hurt," department officials said in a statement.
This was not the first time that people have been injured by a falling branch in the North Beach park. In 2016, a 100-pound branch broke off a 50-foot-tall pine tree in the park and struck Emma Zhou as she watched her children play. She was paralyzed from the waist down.
Her family sued the city of San Francisco for later that year, saying the city's parks department failed to properly maintain the Canary Island pine trees in Washington Square Park.. In 2018, the city paid the family $14.5 million settlement.
