A tree that fell in Brookside Park near the Kidspace Children’s Museum in Pasadena, critically injuring two children, lacked anchoring roots and had a slight lean that contributed to the fall, although recent rains following a long drought were likely a contributing factor, according to an arborist’s report released Thursday.
The Italian Stone Pine tree fell July 28 as children who had attended a camp at the museum were playing in the park.
Ted Lubeshkoff of JTL Consultants concluded in a seven-page report that the 85-foot-tall tree did not have wide-spread anchoring roots and did not have a “root crown” on either the east or west side. The tree fell to the east.
He determined, however, that the tree likely absorbed an abundance of water following rains that occurred July 19-20, and it “probably could not release water as quickly as it was taking water in, causing a substantial increase in weight throughout the tree.”
“A lean in the tree, by itself, is not necessarily an indicator of an unstable tree,” he wrote in his report. “However, the lean combined with the heavy weight due to increased water uptake and the absence of anchoring roots on the east and west side of the tree most likely contributed to the tree’s instability and failure.”
— Wire reports