Fallen maple tree prompts evaluation of city oversight

BANGOR – The 75-foot sugar maple tree that fell on Saturday evening across Parkview Avenue near Chapin Park was damaged by construction when a sidewalk was installed years ago, according to officials.

The root structure of the approximately 80-year-old tree had been cut to make way for paving, said Brian Dugas, Bangor’s city forester.

“When it leafed out all the weight of the leaves probably put a strain on it,” said Dugas. “It was probably weakened a few days or weeks ago by a high wind or storm that led to this situation.”

The tree, which reigned over the corner of Parkview Avenue and Coombs Street, fell across the roadway around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. When it fell, the maple snapped two utility poles and draped live wires over a passing vehicle. Katie Spearing, 28, who is nine months pregnant, was trapped inside the vehicle for more than an hour with her 2-year-old niece, Madison Coolbrith.

“I heard a huge crack but didn’t realize the power lines were coming down until I stopped the car and heard a big thud on my roof,” Spearing said on Saturday, still cradling her niece moments after being freed from the vehicle.

“I kept thinking, please don’t go into labor right now,” she said. Spearing couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.

The tree marked the northeast corner of Chapin Park, which is always full of children playing, walkers and bicyclists, Dugas said.

“We’re really fortunate that nobody was seriously hurt,” he said.

The city has more than 35,000 street and park trees, approximately 500 acres of parkland and 650 acres in its city forest, Dugas said. The city replanted many of its trees after the outbreak of Dutch Elm disease. These trees are now 40 to 50 years old and tend to have a shorter life span, since they must endure city conditions, such as sand and salt from the roadways and having less space for roots to spread out, he said.

While the city does cut down hazardous trees, the sugar maple that made a resounding bang around the city on Saturday had not been identified as a danger. The city contracts out many of its tree removal jobs, but there is limited staffing and funding for forestry maintenance.

“I’m personally going to be doing a tree inventory and pick away at this,” said Dugan, who has been on the job only since November. “Our parks alone have roughly 5,000 trees to inventory.”

The town forestry department employs a licensed arborist and assistant, who does pruning and clearing work. A landscape crew, consisting of a foreman and two seasonal employees, maintains flower and shrub beds in the parks and downtown. Another employee maintains the leaf compost site and handles the larger projects in the city forest. The staff works together to sustain the city’s tree nursery, Dugas said.

The city has received more than $20,000 in Project Canopy grants this year to promote education, provide tree inventories and encourage tree maintenance. A $7,600 inner-city improvement grant is aimed at tree planting and a $5,000 maintenance grant will probably be spent on pruning and removing hazardous trees, and another $8,000 grant is pegged for planning and education. Dugas hopes some of the later funds will be used to hire a consultant to do a tree inventory and to create an education program for children or horticulture groups.

Dugas hopes the department soon will have a bucket truck, which will help his crew prune large trees around power lines.

“The trees make the city a lot more beautiful,” he said. “When you drive around the city during the summer it looks a lot better with all the foliage than in the wintertime.”