SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KRON) — When wet weather arrives, there’s always a risk for trees coming down. That’s what happened Monday at Steele Lane Elementary School in Santa Rosa.
A giant tree in front of Steele Lane Elementary came down around 11:30 a.m. while classes were happening. The tree took a corner of the building’s roof with it.
Crews from Santa Rosa Public Works spent most of Monday chipping away at the giant oak tree that came down in front of Steele Lane Elementary.
“Loud, yeah we all heard it we were in the office and it was a big boom,” said Steele Lane Elementary School Principal Michael Jablonski.
Jablonski says the tree took out part of the school’s multi-purpose room — where lunch is held, gym class, a stage and some office space. No one was in the room at the time, and no injuries happened as a result of the tree coming down.
“We had a lot of staff on-site due to the weather, so we were just able to utilize those people really effectively and the building was cleared. It’s where we do our lunch service so we were able to do that outside and have lunch outside,” Jablonski said.
Some damage to the roof that will have to be replaced and a fence was damaged along the sidewalk. Santa Rosa Fire Inspector Will Powers was at the scene to assess the damage and said the tree came down because of all the recent rain.
“We’ve had a couple of those systems come through, so some of these big trees coupled with the wind can be uprooted and fall over,” Power said.
Powers says with more rain in the forecast this week and an already saturated ground from past systems. The tree in front of Steele Lane Elementary serves as a good reminder to check around your own property.
“Take a look around and see if there are any trees leaning, see if you see any oddities in the ground that may be a tree about to come over,” Power said.
As for Steele Lane Elementary, the principal told KRON4 that there will be no impact on school hours for the rest of the week. The school is working with the city and state to find a clear to start using the multi-purpose room again.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KRON) — When wet weather arrives, there’s always a risk for trees coming down. That’s what happened Monday at Steele Lane Elementary School in Santa Rosa. A giant tree in front of Steele Lane Elementary came down around 11:30 a.m. while classes were happening. The tree took a corner of the building’s […]
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