Eucalyptus Falls On IV Apartment

Howling winds and pouring rain last night brought down a few trees on UC Santa Barbara’s campus. John Cook, the Associate Director of Facilities, said that two small trees were lost at the east gate of campus and near lot five, and that a large blue gum eucalyptus tree also fell on the Western edge of campus. Unfortunately, it fell onto the roof of the apartment building at 6501 Sabado Tarde Road, crushing the eaves over the porch. Cook said that since the tree is on university property, they are paying for the tree’s removal and repairs to the apartment building. “It’s just minor damage to the roof,” he said. “We’ll put a tarp on it over night and fix it in the morning.”

According to residents in the lower unit of the building, the tree fell between 8:30 and 9 p.m. “You could hear creaking, then it felt like an earthquake. There was a huge crash,” said Ashley MacInnis, a student at UCSB and resident of the lower unit. “We called the fire department, and they told us to call 911. So we called 911 and they transferred us to the fire department, and three engines showed up. They told us we should all leave, but we just stayed here all night.”

This morning, when the cleanup crew was removing the fallen tree, as well as other trees which were precariously close to toppling, their truck became stuck in the mud next to the bike trail. “They had to call Smitty’s towing just to get it out,” said Mitch Goldstein, an occupant of one of the adjacent units. He also said that the ground where the trees are planted was filled with water, and the trees could be seen bending under the strain of the strong winds last night.