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Eucalyptus trees in Portola Valley on town-owned property received an evaluation of “no confidence” Wednesday night (Oct. 8) by the Town Council after a discussion on the species’ positive and negative qualities.
The accent was on the negative. Stands of eucalyptus on town-owned rights of way — on Grove Drive, on Portola Road near the Town Center, and on Alpine Road in front of the Alpine Hills Tennis & Swimming Club — tend to be old, very tall, of huge dimensions and in close proximity to power lines, said Denise Enea, fire marshal for the Woodside Fire Protection District. Like eucalyptuses everywhere, they are also prone to shedding limbs and/or simply falling over, and to intense burning when ignited.
A consensus by the council gave the green light to Town Manager Nick Pegueros to prepare a policy to give staff the discretion to remove a hazardous tree. A short list of specific trees marked for destruction will be included.
Council action on this policy is likely at the Oct. 22 meeting via the agenda’s consent calendar — decisions acted on without further comment unless someone requests a discussion.
The intent would be to take down one or two trees a year, given the expense, Mr. Pegueros said, adding that he appreciated the ambiance the trees create. “We’re just going to be losing that very unique feeling of walking through a eucalyptus stand,” he said.
Pines are also a hazard during this drought. They can turn brown overnight, Ms. Enea said.
But eucalyptuses are the primary target. “The bottom line is that eucalyptus have a life expectancy,” Ms. Enea told the council. “These eucalyptus are now kind of past their life expectancy and we’re starting to see limb failures. … When they fall, they take out power lines and they start fires.”
Just such a fire occurred in July in Woodside when a eucalyptus fell along Canada Road near Godetia Drive, took down a 60,000-volt power line and immediately sparked several fires. Flames from the burning tree were 20 feet to 30 feet high, Ms. Enea told the Almanac. Firefighters quickly contained the fire, in part because grass had been mowed and it was not a windy day.
But firefighters had to fight the fire from the air for the first 45 minutes as they waited for Pacific Gas and Electric Corp. crews to shut down power to the downed wires. If they had tried to fight that fire from the ground, they would have faced the risk of shock in that electricity can follow a stream of water back to a hose, Ms. Enea told the Almanac.
Members of the Trails and Paths Committee, including residents Phil Reilly and committee Chair Susan Gold, advocated for a tree-removal process that involved members of the community for trees not representing an immediate danger.
But one question haunted the discussion: What constitutes anything other than an immediate danger when the tree under consideration is old, very tall, very big, highly flammable, prone to falling and located well within striking distance of a power line?
We’ve lived under the shadow of our neighbors giant eucalyptus trees for over 30 years. Appeals to then to at least prune their trees have gone unheeded.
The fire department has told us that these huge trees, about 30 feet from our house pose no danger! And yet, I read here “. . . said Denise Enea, fire marshal for the Woodside Fire Protection District. Like eucalyptuses everywhere, they are also prone to shedding limbs and/or simply falling over, and to intense burning when ignited.” As long as there are no power lines, I guess it’s okay for those trees to fall on people or on a home like ours.
We can grow almost nothing in your yard thanks to the water these trees suck out of our soil, the shadow they cast, and the toxic acorns and leaves that fall all over our garden. We’d love to grow native plants, but we can’t.