Aging Trees Threat In Mt. Lebanon

When a tree fell in Mt. Lebanon last month, Lori Pearce thought it took a while before the right people heard it. The locust tree that toppled June 6 in Bird Park just missed crushing Pearce, 40, a friend and their five children walking along a path near the park entrance, she said.

"It was terrifying as a mother," Pearce said Tuesday as she stood near logs from the trunk, a few feet in diameter. "I heard a huge crack, turned and saw the tree split, and yelled to my daughter, 'Run!' Then, all of us were under the branches and popped up like little groundhogs. I expected to see one of my kids pinned under a limb."

Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_580082.html

Link: www.post-gazette.com/pg/08220/902396-55.stm (Updated 8/7/08)