Chainsaws are buzzing. Workers from Seattle Tree Preservation, the company brought in to handle the job, are limbing the giant Harvard Ave tree in preparation for removing it entirely. Power is cut to the wires that continue to support the tree as the branches are clipped and dropped to the ground.

The tree is a 90-foot elm with a diameter of more than 32 inches. At those measurements, the tree calculates out to more than 80 years old though people in the neighborhood said they have been told the tree is more than 100 years old.

The incident began last night as wet soil, light winds and a heavy canopy of leaves caused the tree to lean into power wires, threatening a $4 million home and closing down the street through this morning.

Rick Sheridan, spokesperson for Seattle Department of Transportation, said that the city’s urban forestry expert examined the old elm last night and again this morning and determined that the roots had shifted so much that the tree posed a significant danger to the street and the private property nearby.

 

Because the tree is in the parking strip and the responsibility of the private residence it stands in front of, the homeowners will bear the removal cost though Sheridan was unable to say how much that will be. Last night, neighbors in the area said the homeowners were out of town. SDOT was able to reach the homeowners this morning to discuss the situation and arrange to bring in Seattle Tree Preservation who have been maintaining the tree.

The removal process is expected to last the rest of the day with clean-up stretching into Wednesday.

Sheridan said that besides the Harvard Ave E tree, the city came through last night’s wind and rain without too many incidents for SDOT to respond to. The department cleaned up a few small trees that had fallen on roadways but that Harvard was the only major incident SDOT was dealing with today.

A company that specializes in utilizing wood from amazing trees like this one is also involved in the project. Urban Hardwoods will be taking the main trunk wood and creating furniture, a traffic control officer at the scene said. That officer said the tree also has a nickname. “We called her ‘Lena at first. Now we call her ‘Harvey,” the officer said as she stopped yet another car from trying to drive down Harvard Ave E.