Portola Valley: Council concurs, hazardous trees and power lines a real threat

Roadside stands of eucalyptus trees, with their tendency to drop limbs and sometimes fall over, can be a very significant danger when power lines are present, firefighting authorities say. Even if the power line is across the road, as is the case in at least three locations in Portola Valley, the trees are so tall that the power line is still vulnerable.

Complicate matters by adding a severe drought; eucalyptuses at the end of their lifespans; the oiliness of eucalyptus wood, bark and leaves — firefighters call them “gasoline trees” — the fact that electrical fires are dangerous to firefighters until power is shut down; and that the governor has temporarily grounded firefighting aircraft following a recent crash … and you have a situation.

The Portola Valley Town Council on Oct. 8 gave the green light to Town Manager Nick Pegueros to finalize a policy proposal for the Oct. 22 council meeting that would give staff the discretion to quickly remove a hazardous tree. A short list of specific trees marked for destruction will be included.

The discussion on Oct. 8 included passionate defenses of eucalyptus trees from Trails and Paths Committee members who asked the council to include the community in non-urgent tree removal decisions.

For a cold view of the situation, the council turned to Fire Marshal Denise Enea of the Woodside Fire Protection District. “My job is worst-case scenarios and fire prevention,” Ms. Enea said. While she rarely orders trees to be felled, experts are consistent in their analysis of eucalyptus and their prominent role in fires, she said.

Eucalyptus have a lifespan, Ms. Enea said. While she deferred to arborists for professional opinions, she said that two of three major stands in Portola Valley are at or near the end of their lives in front of the Spring Down Equestrian Center on Portola Road and in front of the Alpine Hills Tennis and Swimming Club on Alpine Road.

A stand on Grove Drive is younger but just as tall, and has upper branches that appear to be second growth and thus structurally weak, Ms. Enea told the Almanac.

A eucalyptus fell on July 24 on Canada Road near Godetia Drive in Woodside, bringing down a 60,000-volt power line as it fell, which immediately started several fires. The incident enshrouded Interstate 280 in smoke and disabled many area traffic signals.

Helicopter water drops were crucial that day, Ms. Enea said, because firefighters had to wait 45 minutes for Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. crews to shut down power to the downed wires. Had they attempted fighting the fire from the ground, firefighters would have faced the unacceptable risk of shock from electricity following the stream of water back to the hose, Ms. Enea said in an interview.

“We have to assume that trees towering over the power lines — that goes for ANY tree over the power lines — has the potential to fall and start a fire,” she said. “In the fire service, the mantra is: If it is predicable, it is preventable!”

Two trees per year

It’s not yet known exactly how many eucalyptuses present a hazard on public land in Portola Valley, but it may well be more than 10, Mr. Pegueros told the Almanac. Given a cost of between $2,000 and $8,000 per tree, depending on size, staff plan to take down a few per year.

At the meeting, residents Phil Reilly and Susan Gold of the Trails and Paths Committee advocated for consensus-driven decisions on removing trees not considered an immediate danger.

Mr. Reilly took issue with characterizing all eucalyptus as dangerous. Other Bay Area communities manage them rather than remove them, he said. Town staff should seek “multiple inputs, not just the fire marshal,” he added. If consensus is elusive, a council member should decide.

The right approach to tree removal is caution and deliberation and consideration of the town’s goals, Ms. Gold said.

But a question lingered: When is the danger not immediate if a tree is old, tall, heavy, flammable, prone to falling and located within striking distance of a power line?

Recalling the consensus-seeking that animated the four-year extension of life given in 2008 to a faltering old oak over a Little League dugout at Ford Field, Mayor Ann Wengert wondered about the utility of consensus this time around. “What I’m most concerned about is hindering (staff’s) ability to do their work,” she said. “I feel very strongly that safety has to trump all in these situations.”

“It is unacceptable for a tree to fall and take down a power line and start a fire,” Councilwoman Maryann Derwin said. “This isn’t about the romance of saving trees. This is about preserving safety in this town.”