Neighbors Try To Get To Root Cause Of Trees Crashing Down On Homes

GRANADA HILLS (CBSLA.com) — Crews worked into the night Tuesday cleaning up a massive Eucalyptus tree that came crashing onto a Granada Hills home.

"At 5 o'clock in the morning all of a sudden we heard this thunderous noise and we thought it was an earthquake because it just shook the whole house," Sebastian Carrillo said.

It's not the first time this has happened.

"In the past four years, there have been at least four trees that have damaged houses on this street severely," Jeffrey Bohrer, who lives near the home, said. "I think it's just luck so far that no one has died."

Just down the same street, Michael Colon had a Eucalyptus fall on his house last month.

In 2010, a tall heavy Eucalyptus toppled over onto another house on the same street sending a woman to the hospital.

The root causes neighbors say, are drought-stricken trees and high winds.

"They tell us the City of Los Angeles is in charge of the trees, but won't take charge of their care," Eric Mansker, of the Granada Hills Residence Group said. "They just said that they don't have the money to take out all the trees."

CBS2's Jennifer Kastner spoke to a representative with the City of Los Angeles' Public Works Department who said their workers are doing the best they can to handle all complaints regarding trees. There are an overwhelming number of drought-stricken trees in Los Angeles. This December, the city's workers responded to 1,200 tree emergencies.